Becoming a Family
by folkeye
Summary: On a simple errand, Thundercracker meets a sparkling. He soon begins to realize that their lives were meant to be entwined. Can he and Skywarp handle being parents? 04-23-09: Haven't forgotten about this story. Next chapter in progress.
1. Connection

Connection

This was one of those things that never crossed my mind. Not once. I only try to worry about two people, Skywarp and myself. I know that may sound a bit selfish, but it's the truth. I chose to share my life with him oh so many years ago and that was that. No second thoughts. He was a part ofmy life, my responsibilities, my ups and downs….After all, he's my bondmate, my eternal partner and that was how that was supposed to work. Skywarp was mine, and I was his. I never, ever, considered the possibility of having to share him with anybody else. The thought was quite ludicrous until recently, just this morning actually…

I had an errand to run on Cybertron. There's nothing unusual about that for me. When given the opportunity, it's just a space bridge trip away. Petty errands are something I don't complain about, most of the time at least. They give me a break from the unnecessary stress of our makeshift headquarters on Earth. My particular task at the time was to meet somebody for spare parts made of a particular alloy that could not be reproduced with our limited Earth resources. I could only ponder what they were for as I listened to my own heavy footsteps as I walked down a mostly silent metal street. War has torn up great chunks of my home and it saddens me every time I see it. There are still small pockets here and there with surviving, dimished communities. There is nothing as grand as it used to be though. The thoughts flitted through my head and I did my best not to concentrate on them to avoid certain depression. That's a hard task in itself, so much so that I concentrated hard on trying not to concentrate on them. I snapped out of it when I looked up again and realized I reached my destination.

The place was a dump. It was a boring looking drab grey building still in one piece, although the walls had dents, chips and various other marks of years of abuse. A small front window was showing off its shiny self and looked like the only thing that had been recently repaired. There was no numbers or signs to signify what kind of place this was and I took a few mental guesses as I walked in the door. Most of my guesses were wrong as my optics adjusted to the dimmer light inside. It appeared it was a residence of sorts at one time and now converted into a pseudo office space. I was in what I figured to be a main living room with some chairs, a table, a couch, and a desk with a dim glowing computer sitting on top of it in the corner. There were also a few closed doors. I assumed they led off to hallways or smaller rooms. All in all I considered what I saw to be a decent sized home. It was surely bigger than anything I lived in before. Everything was silent aside from the nearly inaudible hum of the computer. This was where I was to meet my contact and there was no sign of life. I considered making my presence known by choosing a random door to knock on when I heard footsteps. They sounded as though they were descending stairs. I listened attentively as they approached, and stopped on the other side of one of the doors. There was the sure sound of a keypad being pushed and then with a squeak of neglect the door slid open to reveal a rather tired unremarkable looking robot.

"Are you Thundercracker?" He asked, wasting no time with polite formalities as he stepped through the door. He didn't bother to close it behind him.

I nodded. "Yeah, that's me." I didn't bother asking his name. It was mostly unimportant. I was here to pick up and leave. No more.

"You're la…" he paused a moment, no doubt checking his chronometer. "…right on time."

I stared at him a moment. Apparently he was used to the lazy, dilapidated atmosphere around here, which seemed to include slackers. I was nearly going to get offended. He must have noticed my expression or read my mind since he spoke again quickly.

"Uh, sorry." He sighed. A look of caution crept onto his face as he glanced at the symbol I wore on my wings. I knew what he was thinking.

"You live here?" I broke his stare with my question. It was probably going to be an obvious answer but I was getting agitated and needed to distract him from his prying optics. I'm aware of being stared at constantly, because I represent what people have come to despise over the years. I've gotten pretty good at ignoring it though. It just took a bit of practice. Besides, if he really wanted a problem I'd have been more than happy to give it to him. I just wasn't in the mood though. He was lucky.

"Yes, home sweet home." He glanced around as if to give me a visual tour. "It's not much, but it keeps us sheltered." He waved at the couch. I guess I was supposed to take that as an invite to sit. "I'm going to need a bit more time to prepare your pick up."

_Us?_ I thought. He turned his back to me and walked back through the door. I figured he knew I wasn't there to threaten him and trusted that I'd be willing to stay put while he got my parts in order, and since I wasn't late, they weren't ready. Strange. He didn't seem to be one for small talk either which was fine by me. I glanced at the doorway for a moment watching his form trudge back towards the stairs he came down before making the decision to sit. He once again left the door open and from my sitting angle I could see that there was a darkened hallway that ran next to the stairwell.

Sitting even for a few minutes was making me bored. There was no data pad to poke at, no bustling crowd to watch, and no clue how long I'd be waiting. I started to retreat back into my own mind to think for a while, that'd keep me busy. I looked around the room again before settling my optics on the hall. It was dark and boring, just how I was feeling, so I decided to have a stare down with it. Thundercracker versus the hallway, oh Skywarp was going to love hearing about this one,_ if_ I told him. I focused and gazed into the darkness. Only I noticed that it seemed to be staring back. Figuring it was just a figment of my imagination I blinked a few times, but it was still there. In the dark were two very faint glowing silver orbs. They moved slightly back and forth, accompanied by a light shuffling noise, but didn't come any closer. Whatever it was, it was patient and our staring game continued for a few silent minutes.

"Anybody there?" I ventured an obvious question to the dark. The orbs moved again and this time they blinked… "Don't think I can't see you." I leaned forward, squinted to get a better look. "Seriously, I do know you're there." The orbs had come slightly closer to me judging from the increased brightness, I felt no threat and didn't scan it to see what or who it was. If they wanted to show themselves and be sociable it would only take them a few more steps.

After a few more minutes of our little staring contest there were some soft footsteps and the form had decided to come closer again into the dim light to allow me a silhouette guess as to who I was dealing with. From what I could tell, I was looking at a very small robot. He was slight in frame with no immediate defining features aside from bright glowing optics. They were the silver orbs that were staring me down. Curiosity was getting the best of me and I wanted to see more of my little visitor, even if only to keep my mind occupied.

"So…" I really had no clue what to say. "…who're you?" Those optics of his still gazed at me. I must admit they were intriguing. I could see they held fear, hurt, innocence, and an overwhelming curiosity. "Why don't you come on out here? I won't hurt you."

The small figure remained still. He apparently considered my words and slowly took a few more steps until he revealed himself fully to me in the doorway. Gazing cautiously, shyly at me was something I thought I'd never see again. In front of my widened optics was a sparkling. I was at a loss for thoughts, which was rare, although not as rare as this little robot who decided to take a few more small slow steps towards me. I had seen a number of sparklings in the past but never thought much of them, aside from the question as to 'why'? Why did they exist? Cybertronians were built, rolled off the line if you will, and infused with a life spark which contained a small piece of its creator. We're not organic beings who are born and need to be raised. What you see is what you get is the best way to think of it. All we need to know to get going in life is pre-programmed. Sure you learn as you live, and need to be taught… but not like_ that_. Somewhere probably lost in our time somebody must have been truly fascinated with organic beings having to raise and nurture their young and decided to take their own crack at it with mechanical life, and were obviously successful. The result was a sparkling, a small child-like robot that was designed to mature and grow with time. Sparklings did not have it in their programming to fend for themselves. They needed a parent figure… like humans for example. Now that I think of it, that's closest thing I could compare a sparkling to, a human child. They needed a guardian or two who would be willing to share their lives and the desire to want to experience raising young. Even for those willing to take on the job, sparklings weren't created per request; it was one of those things that just happen every great while. In the Golden Age it made them quite a sought after commodity. That was the perfect time to have a family unit, life was good and peaceful. Unfortunately that was millions of years ago. Now most were less willing to extend their hospitality to raising a young one and worry more about personal recovery.

The sparkling still continued his slow journey closer to me. A mixture of confusion and curiosity played on his gentle face. I took a moment to examine him as he approached. Aside from the fact he was a sparkling, there was truly nothing notable about his form. He was an ambiguous little thing with neither wings nor wheels. He stood slightly taller than my bent knee joint, and the smooth un-featured armor covering his body was various shades of silver, grey, and black. I offered a small smile at him as he stopped near my leg and looked up at me with his bright optics. He simply smiled in return.

I found myself again at a loss of what to say. Judging from his maturity level he might not understand me anyways. At least he seemed friendly.

"What's your name?" I settled on what I thought would be a straight forward easy question.

He looked away from my face, to my wings, to the golden glass cockpit in my chest, down my legs and to my feet before looking back up at me. Was he sizing me up? That was my first instinctive thought before common sense took hold and I realized that he'd probably never seen anybody like me before and he was just curious.

"Do you understand me?"

"Silver." He stated in a small soft voice.

"Silver?" I looked at him quizzically. Was he stating what color he was, or was that his name?

"...yeah…Silver." He turned his optics back down to my foot, and then crouched down to get a closer look.

"Silver is your name?" I wanted a clarification.

He nodded his head quickly and vigorously but kept his attention focused on my foot.

"There something interesting down there?" I kept still wondering about his curious action.

"Looks not the same." Silver stated quite surely.

"They don't look the same?" I pressed my feet together and leaned over to see them. "They look the same to me." Taking a second glance, just to be safe, I kept them pressed together and raised them a bit so he could get a better look. "See?"

Silver shook his head. "No, not same."

Stubborn little guy. "They are very much the same." Perhaps I had a big unknown rock stuck in a joint that made a particular area look less symmetrical. I looked a third time and didn't see anything wrong.

A second head shake was my response. Maybe his logic worked in weird ways, maybe his optics were damaged, maybe he had no clue what he was talking about, maybe sometime while I was in a deep recharge Skywarp decided to paint the bottom of one a different color…but before I could think of more options he reached a small hand forward and laid it on top of my foot.

"No…." He patted the metal of my foot a few times and offered me one last slow shake of his head. "See?"

Silver had straightened himself up a bit, took his hand off my foot, and placed it on my leg for support as he lifted his own leg. I noted that he didn't seem to have issues with personal space and strangers. With his free hand he pointed at his foot. "See?"

"Oh!" Recognition struck. I couldn't help chuckling. "Yes, you're right. They're not the same." All along he had been comparing his foot to mine. Indeed they were quite different. Obviously mine was incredibly huge compared to his and consisted of two distinct sections designed to let me fly when not in jet form, while his on the other hand was quite flat with no other apparent function aside from walking. "Wait though…" I set both my feet back on the floor. "…they're sort of the same."

"No." That was his immediate response as he lowered his leg again. "Um…how?"

"Well, they're the same color." For some reason I felt the need to point out the similarity to him, maybe it was because I was used to coming to some sort of compromise with Skywarp when we had small arguments, it made both of us happy. It was a good choice on my part to mention it since Silver looked at his foot, then mine, and the stubbornness that had begun to show on his face melted away into a smile. It was a strange first conversation.

Letting out a soft giggle he patted my leg. "Okay, same color." He seemed to think a moment. "Um… what your name?"

Considering it was only his second question to me, he was all ready much more polite than my contact that was still busy upstairs. "I'm Thundercracker."

"Thunder…cracker?" Silver repeated my name.

"That's right."

He continued smiling at me and seemed pleased with himself. "Long name, Thundercracker."

Silver seemed to have something in common with Skywarp, he enjoyed stating the obvious. "Yeah, I guess so." I shrugged.

Then for some reason Silver's smile faded and he looked unsure of himself. He seemed to be entering a mental battle and didn't appear to be fully prepared. His gaze drifted to the floor and he held it there as he began to fidget slightly.

"You okay?" I hoped to get him out of the debate before it started. I was all too familiar with indecision and recognized it instantly. "Silver?" He knitted his optic ridge and laced his fingers together looking very shy. I reached out and gently patted his arm to get his attention. "Hey, what's wrong?" He let out a small gasp at my touch, he must have been truly deep in thought and I startled him. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." I quickly withdrew my hand.

He then did something unexpected. He brought his optics back up to mine with a look of timid hopefulness, and then slowly raised his arms up to me. I could only blink at him. Did he want me to do what I think he wanted me to do? He could easily climb up onto the couch if he desired, instead he appeared to want an invite. The invite he was looking for was for me to pick him up and put him where he wanted to go. I was a complete stranger to him, why was he so trusting of me? Did I remind him of somebody he was fond of? I was hesitant of course and one screaming thought was thinking of getting somebody else mad at me for handling their sparkling. I wondered if he belonged to my contact. There was still no movement through the open door. Silver remained with his arms up to me, noticing my hesitation, his bottom lip was quivering slightly, looking like a human child the moment before breaking into tears. I didn't know what to do. It wasn't asking a lot of me I knew… this was just odd.

If he had tears to shed I'm sure one would have fallen down his cheek when I didn't reach back for him. He let out a depressed sigh and dropped his arms to his sides. He dropped his head forward and his whole posture turned to that of defeat. I had no idea I would cause him this much trouble over something so simple. Almost without thinking, I reached out to him, his head snapping up and his optics going wide as I grasped his small frame and lifted him to the spot next to me. There didn't need to be any unnecessary depression from one so young and I hoped picking him up after the fact would make him happy.

Apparently it did the trick. There was a look of genuine amazement on his face. "Better now I hope?"

Silver's happy expression remained plastered there for a few more seconds as he looked up to me and nodded. "Better." He then looked down and a look of confusion reappeared. I was beginning to wonder about him. "Don't know…" He said quietly.

I was getting confused quickly. He was answering a question to himself that I hadn't asked, although I assumed from his foot comparison conversation that I would have an answer soon. I knew asking wouldn't hurt. "What's bothering you?"

When he looked back up at me he had the same look on his face as the moment I hesitated to pick him up. What else could he have wanted from me? He seemed so happy a moment ago. Silver nodded to himself again and without further debate on his part he scooted closer to me until he was pressed up against my arm. Not knowing how to act with this sudden affection, I stiffened, only slightly, but did not push him away. He kept pressing against my arm, seeming to want to get closer. With some reserve, I slowly lifted my arm away to give him more room. There was no hesitation as he shuffled across the now vacant space until he pressed himself against my side, bringing his legs up to his chest, and curling up into a comfortable ball. What was he thinking? I stared curiously down at him.

"Better." He stated. There was more confidence in this answer, and he had made himself right at home in the shelter of my body.

I felt somewhat awkward, yet relaxed at the same time, it helped my ease that he was very affectionate and I didn't find him intrusive. I didn't know what was going on emotionally with Silver or why I was a sparkling magnet. Silver was completely unafraid of me and I still couldn't understand why it was that he was so fond of me. I hadn't really done anything to earn his affections. Maybe some more small talk would help. What would it hurt?

Deciding on another simple question, I spoke up. "Where is your guardian?" I figured if he was missing them then that'd help explain his actions towards me.

Looking up at me sadly he held his own legs for support. "No guardian."

_Uh oh. _"They're not here or…" I didn't get a chance to finish.

"Don't have one, all alone." He turned a bit and wrapped an arm around me. He dug his face into my side. He was desperately seeking comfort.

Sensing his simple need and the fact I knew I had asked the wrong question to start this, I lowered my arm and cradled him gently. It was the least I could do for him. His body was so small and delicate compared to mine. Feeling the instinctive need to press further I continued. "Where did they go?"

Silver was silent a moment, I knew he was thinking of an answer. "Not want me."

"Not want you? How…" I began to feel a twinge of anger bubbling deep within my spark the moment I heard those simple words. From the exceptionally short time he decided to reach to me for comfort and come into physical contact with my body, I had starting feeling a familiar fondness of him I couldn't explain.

"I…I not the same." His face was still pressed into me, muffling his words.

"Not the same?" I thought of the feet conversation again. "What wasn't the same?"

Sadly he answered "Me."

I needed to know what he meant so I continued softly. "What weren't you the same as?"

"Guardian." There was no anger in his answer. "Not like me this way." He held me tighter. "Body not…look or act same, says I…not want to be family."

Although he was trying his best to explain, I was trying to sort out what he meant, and softly rubbed his back to comfort him. Silver wasn't confused on what happened to him, but I was. He still amazed me in the fact he was being so open and honest on a subject that obviously pained him. He un-hid his face and continued before I could think of asking him another question.

"I wanted to be family. I had home, I was…happy." There was uncertainty in the way he said 'happy'. I could feel his body tremble. "He…he…kept telling me I not happy, not like him…I not understand why. I...I can't be like him…how I be like him? I'm only…me."

Bright silver optics bore into mine as he finished talking. "So…" Mentally arranging what I wanted to say to clarify his story wasn't going to happen so I had to speak what I thought right then and there. "…what you're saying is that you had a guardian before, and since your body wasn't the same type as his he wouldn't accept you as family? That makes no sense!" Frustration with this one was unavoidable. "You are who you are, and… he should have known that when he brought you home. You can't judge happiness or acceptance on something like that. How did he expect you to change for him?" After all, Silver didn't look like he had an alternate form. I had no clue on if he'd ever have one. My knowledge of sparkling physiology was quite limited.

Shaking my head, I figured Silver might not have understood what I was trying to say to him. I didn't even know why I was saying it to be honest. It was too much and too complicated for one so young, I knew. I was starting to feel like I'd know him a long time and he needed me to make his sadness go away. Turning my body I reached for him, carefully getting both hands around his waist and prying him from my side. He clung to my fingers as I lifted him over my lap and brought him down so he was standing on my upper legs with my hands still safely around him for support.

Our optics never broke contact. "Silver, there's nothing wrong with you. You're how you are because….that's _who_ you are." Listening to myself spouting counseling and philosophy to this sparkling I'd just met was a bit weird. I knew I had to though, it just felt right.

A faint smile tugged at his mouth. "You…like me, Thundercracker?"

This question I was afraid to answer for some reason but couldn't stop myself. "Yeah, I like you."

"You like me since I... Silver?"

He was quite bright, he did understand what I was trying to tell him and put it back to me in the simplest words possible. Skywarp himself couldn't have done any better.

"Yes, I like you because you're Silver, and the fact our feet are the same color." I grinned at him.

From that point I knew the feet philosophy was going to be with me a long time. I realized that it meant the world to Silver and I was there at the right time to share it with him. It was a defining moment of acceptance, _my_ acceptance of him. A moment he understood and felt that he was okay being who he was, without conforming fully to another. A thought crossed my mind. Maybe he was unconsciously testing the waters with me, a test that I passed… he was bright indeed.

Since I was holding him he felt safe enough to lift his legs and swing them. Outright giggles escaped him. We understood each other and that pleased him greatly. Having that understanding pleased me too. The sweetest smile spread across his lips. This time there was no pause when he reached his arms out to me. Where else did he want to go, I was already holding him. Following the first instinct that came to mind I pulled him close to me and allowed him to nestle himself alongside my cockpit as I embraced him. In return he wrapped his small arms around me and melted into my hold.

Strange feelings crept over me as I held him. Thoughts of him not being with a caring guardian pulled at my spark… for a brief moment, I even dared entertain the thought of snatching him up and taking him home. Skywarp would officially label me insane if I did that. What the heck would I say to him anyways? _Hey, look what I brought home. Can we keep him?_ That'd go over well. I couldn't deny feeling something for Silver though, and it wasn't just pity, or the fact he was sweet, and I must admit cute, it was deeper and not going away… that was the worrisome part.

At least fifteen minutes later Silver remained on my lap and engaged himself in examining my air intakes. They must have been incredibly fascinating to him, which was amusing to me. Pieces of me that have been there practically forever was something I took for granted. Amusement had plastered itself to my face as I watched him in his innocent explorations. In return I had a chance to look closely at the thin armor covering his body. Initially I thought there was nothing unique about its smooth surface but now I noticed it was seamed irregularly and there were wider gaps between plates. Considering his body was meant to grow, it made sense enough.

Sorting out what I was feeling for him was going to be difficult. I hadn't been in contact with him an hour even and I was rapidly developing a… protective sense, that was the best way to describe it. It didn't help that he had pressed himself directly over my spark either…that's where my issues were coming from. Where he rested against me there was a warm pull from within, not un-similar to that bondmates feel when they are around each other. It wasn't the powerful pull I felt around Skywarp, just similar…in a very different sort of way. He seemed oblivious to it. I knew I needed to learn more about Silver before I came to any conclusions on the possibility… now more like a probability of a connection with him. Fate has strange ways of working, I've experienced it before.

Present time struck when we heard footsteps on the stairs, my contact. It would be time to retrieve my goods and go home. Sadness was tugging at me, but I didn't let it show. Silver slowed on his inquisitive prodding and wrapped his arms around me to hug me close. Did he feel my sadness, or was he now holding me because of his own at our soon to be separation? Wrapping my arms protectively around him I kept my gaze on the open doorway.

"Sorry for the wait." The contact stepped through the door with a case under his arm. "Something got misplaced and I had…" Freezing to the spot he stood when he saw the small figure in my arms. "Silver?!"

Silver shrunk into my arms and buried his face into my chest, trying to disappear.

My contact didn't sound angry, just extremely surprised. "I was wondering where you went, you know." The tone was casual. He walked over to us. "Sorry about that, he's very…" There was a pause as he screwed up his face in thought. "…never like this." He sighed and shook his head.

"What do you mean never?" Surprise was quite evident in my voice. Holding Silver securely, I stood up.

"Silver _never_ gets into other's business. He's relatively indifferent to what's happening most the time. He's never as bold as this." Setting the case down on a table he reached out to me wanting to have Silver returned. Guess he assumed Silver was a burden to me.

"He's no problem. He was good company while I waited."

Silver refused to budge from his hold on me as my contact came over to us and reached for his body. I found I wasn't lessening my grip either. The contact must have noticed this since he lowered his arms and backed off. Knowing he didn't want to make me mad, and the fact I was quite a bit bigger than him, he let me keep Silver for now.

"Good company?" He laughed hoarsely. "He doesn't say much."

"Yes he does."

The laughing stopped and his optics widened. "You're serious?"

"Of course! How can you say that?" My fingers without my consent stroked Silver's smooth dark helm gently. I glanced down at him, he looked scared.

"I only say it because it's the truth." His tone was quiet and sure. "He's always been reserved and said very little, and that's only when he has to. Not that he's not nice or anything, just the silent type."

"He's told me about a recent guardian… who rejected him. Is there truth to this?"

My contact sighed. "So… he _did_ talk to you." Rubbing his chin he responded lightly. "Yes it's true." He crossed his arms and must have noticed the change of expression on my face. "I know what you're thinking, and it wasn't me. Did he tell you that it's happened more than once?"

No sound came out when I opened my mouth to respond. I only ended up shaking my head.

"Ah…well, maybe I shouldn't have said anything thing then." Shrugging he uncrossed his arms again and leaned against a chair.

_Yeah, right, bet you did that on purpose._ "Is there something _that_ wrong with him?"

"Oh no, no, no… it just hasn't worked out for him." He had no problems just talking away about Silver's past like it was no big deal. "The few who have tried to bring him into their lives always have something similar to say. They say he's polite, nice, very quiet, but he never moves closer to them. He never feels like family to them…and that doesn't work if that's what you're trying to make. Don't know if it's a deliberate choice on his part or not. Definitely nothing like what he's doing now with you, aside from his silence."

"Is this the first time you've had him?" Depression was a mild word to how I was feeling about Silver's recent past.

"First time? No. He's been coming back here after each unsuccessful attempt to place him. It's his home in between homes."

"Why here?"

"I'm the one who found Silver in the first place. He was huddled up against my door one day. Nobody claimed him; nobody at the time even wanted him. I decided to at least give him shelter. I don't even know he's here half the time so he's no trouble." Reaching one arm forward this time he settled on petting Silver's back a few times then withdrew. "His time'll come eventually."

The blue optics of my contact rested on Silver and I. I knew from the depths of my spark that he was hoping I was 'The One' to come along and make Silver my own since he had decided to attach himself to me in such an unusual manner. Unfortunately that still wasn't a decision I could make on my own. I figured Skywarp _did_ have to be involved and notified that he'd be taking on a permanent parenting position, I owed him that much. Oh yeah, I'd have to ask him if that was something he was even remotely interested in. Neither of us had ever even discussed the possibility of a sparkling, not even in theory. A plan was forming itself in my head though. I couldn't mention my beloved mate to Silver or my contact…yet.

"What's your name?" Now was the time I decided some importance in finally asking.

"Lighthand." He said as he raised a dark, worn hand to me.

"Fitting."

Lighthand laughed, used to the obvious problem with his namesake. "You'd be surprised."

Not wanting to leave at all, I knew it was time to go. "Um, I guess I'd better take those parts home now." Silver looked mortified and clung to me as tight as his little body would let him.

"No go!" Desperation sounded in his voice. "Not want you to go." Once again he buried his face deep into me. "Can't go…"

If my simple, recently formed plan worked, I'd hopefully be back here very soon with Skywarp. "Sorry, Silver. I have to go…you've got to understand." I couldn't help but hug him close again and whispering softly to him. "I'm going to come back though, trust me."

Looking up at me with pleading, sad optics he reluctantly loosened his grip on me. Indeed he was well behaved. "I trust you. Promise…promise you come back?"

"I promise." Unfortunately I couldn't help nuzzling his cheek gently, he pressed into my affection. I should have been smart enough to think against it, and making that promise to him. I would only be giving up his hope if by some chance I couldn't return. Crushing his fragile psyche was not in my agenda.

Lighthand's outstretched arms took a hold of Silver and pulled him from my body as I hesitantly loosened my grip. Silver reluctantly let Lighthand cradle him; he didn't look to be getting any comfort from it.

"He'll be here for a while, right?" I raised an optic ridge at Lighthand.

Understanding that I was more than likely to come back one way or the other he nodded.

"Yes. He's not going anywhere anytime soon."

"You'll take good care of him I trust?" Now I was sounding like a worried mother.

"I always have."

I believed him on that one. He had taken good care of Silver, and was holding him close and careful now. Silver just hadn't chosen to make this place home. At least I knew it wasn't out of spite or mistreatment. It was a decision I'm sure Silver was completely unaware of making.

Turning to the table and picking up my case of parts my spark insistently wanted me to go back to Silver. Right now, there was nothing I could do about it. I had to go home first.

"Good bye, Silver." I offered him a warm smile and a wave.

Living up to Lighthand's description of him, he remained quiet as I turned to leave. I did notice though that he had a hand placed across his chest with a familiar confused look on his face. I knew for sure he was feeling the same pull I was. He was just going to have to wait, just a little longer.

With Silver in mind and spark I left Lighthand's home. Safely storing away the case, the only reason I came here in the first place, I transformed and flew back towards the space bridge. My next task was to determine what to tell Skywarp. That was sure going to be fun.

.

.

**AN:**

A few simple guidelines for reading this story:

1.It is safe to consider it AU. The war has quieted down for some reason or another. This story is not a history lesson.

2. I am purposely not bringing in other major characters, unless situation calls. This is Thundercracker and Skywarp's story.

3. Please just take it as is, a story.

**I do have illustrations for this story. Check out my bio/profile for links.**


	2. Consideration

Consideration

After a brief trip via Space Bridge, I arrived home safely. First on my agenda was passing on the case of parts to the appropriate party before venturing to my quarters. I was hoping Skywarp would be there. That would mean being able to get what was on my mind off as soon as possible without over-thinking. I knew what I wanted to do and it was simple. Skywarp would never suspect anything suspicious, as long as I was careful. How careful could I be though? Entertaining the idea of bringing another life into ours was going to be an emotional battle, and being bonded makes emotional caution difficult. No matter how hard I try to hide something, my beloved somehow always managed to catch on.

Arriving at my door, it opened automatically just as I reached for the keypad. Skywarp probably felt my approach and he now stood revealing his black, white, and purple self to me.

Cocking his head to the side Skywarp grinned at me. "Did ya miss me?"

"Oh, you _know_ I can't go an hour without you." Sarcasm was quite evident in my voice.

"Of course!" The grin stayed on his lips as he stepped aside, giving me just enough room to squeeze by into our quarters. I pressed passed him and stepped in.

He followed and closed the door behind him. He reached to me and caught my hand in his. "How do you put up with me?" I could feel his playfulness of asking that question a millionth time.

"Don't know." I shrugged and pulled him close for an embrace. "If I ever figure it out… you'll be the first to know."

"I sure hope so." Moving his face close to mine he reached up and caressed my cheek.

I couldn't help but lean into his touch. "So….things go well on your little outing while I was here all by my lonesome?"

Pecking his fingers with a quick kiss I casually removed myself from the embrace. "They most definitely did." I walked over to our energon dispenser and helped myself to a cube. "Want one?"

"Sure." He looked quizzically at me.

"What?" I was quite casual, or so I thought.

"_Most definitely did_?" Skywarp laughed. "Something good must have happened up there."

I handed him an energon cube. "Is there a problem with that?" My defenses were creeping up and I did my best to put them at bay.

"Yes…." He slinked over to me.

Inwardly I cringed. Had he picked up on what I was trying to hide? "What's the problem with that?"

Taking the cube he whined mockingly at me. "Because, Love of my life… you shouldn't be out having fun without _me_!" I've been soooooo _bored_!"

Time held still for a few precious seconds. Skywarp had unknowingly made my plan the simplest in the universe.

"You poor thing, you!" I reached forward and patted his head.

"Tell me about it!"

"How about I do better than that?" I locked my gaze on him.

Skywarp seemed to want to whine again but stopped himself. A wide smile spread across his face. "Better? Is that a promise?" He was always such a kidder.

"A promise…" My spark ached at the thought of the recent promise I'd made to Silver. "…yes." Forcing a sly smirk on my face I walked two fingers up his chest as I spoke. "It just so happens that I need to make another run and would be delighted to have your superb company."

Looking quite happy with himself I knew he was readying a sarcastic remark. "Who wouldn't?"

It was the kind of answer I expected from him, one of the many reasons I loved him. He was always able to be sarcastic and playful with me which was normal for him and he always lightened my mood. Unless of course it was a serious matter, then he acted appropriately, mostly.

I couldn't resist having the last say. "Oh, practically anybody but me, my love." Both of us laughed.

Walking over to our couch I sat myself down. Skywarp followed and joined me. That was all too simple for me. We'd be back at Lighthand's in no time, and then I could judge what kind of reaction Silver had to Skywarp. What if that connection was only with me? What would I do then? Calming my rush of thoughts I sipped my energon and flicked on the large view screen on the wall. We had it patched into a local earth satellite so we could tap into the cable television the humans loved so much. I must admit some of it was interesting enough to provide entertainment, and right now I figured it'd help me keep my thoughts minimal.

"When do we get to go on our exciting outing?" Skywarp nudged me.

"Think you can wait until tomorrow?"

"That long?" He set his energon cube down and curled next to me to watch the screen. "I'll manage."

Even though my optics were on some obscure movie my thoughts began creeping back to Silver. He was having such a deep effect on me and it was troubling since I just met him. It shouldn't be possible for an attachment like that so fast, it just wasn't fair. I understand that certain people leave lasting impressions on others but it's not as committing as what was possibly happening with me. Considering the fact I was taking what I felt seriously, it would change my… _our_ lives. This was no light matter here. I'd be bringing another life into ours, a relationship that'd last…forever. We'd have to learn how to care for a sparkling and how to fill his needs. Were we even capable?

Sinking deeper into my thoughts I was unaware of anything else happening until a loud mental voice spoke to me. _Thundercracker, this is your conscience speaking. _Blinking rapidly I snapped out of it to find the view screen turned off and Skywarp was now standing in front of me, his face lowered to mine with a concerned look. He had mentally interrupted my thoughts.

"TC?" He asked aloud. He waved a hand in front of my optics. "You okay?"

"I…uh…yeah…" Skywarp wasn't going to buy my answer. I knew maybe the fact I missed all the recent activity of the view screen turning off and him getting up didn't help.

"Like I'm going to believe that? One minute you were here then the next I had no clue where you went. What's wrong?"

That over simplified plan of mine was suddenly not looking so good. Now that I think about it I didn't know if it would be a wise thing to just throw him in the middle of that kind of situation just to 'see what happens'. The idea was innocent enough. I was now more afraid of the thought of a nasty backlash.

"You're not going to believe me if I told you everything was just perfectly fine?" Asking in a forced light tone I figured I might as well try one more time to ensure him everything was okay. I knew it didn't matter, our bond was strong and I couldn't hide this much distress from him.

Shaking his head at me he went down on his knees to stay level with me. "You know I can't. Normally you're moody, but not to_ this_ extreme."

"Gee…thanks." A hint of a smile tugged at my lips. He was always trying to make me feel better in those subtle ways, and now I was feeling guilty about the thoughts of being sneaky. I had a new resolve hit fast. Letting my bondmate in on the days events might be a better idea than surprise, and I might get some more insight. Preparing him was going to be a bit awkward. I took a deep breath. " 'Warp, every bit of my being was against me telling you something...but I'm going to do it anyways." Feeling strong curiosity, along with a bit of offense flare between us he remained silent for me. "Might I suggest you make yourself comfortable?"

"Should I be getting some high grade for this?" Standing up he moved to sit back next to me.

"No, you need to be coherent for this one." Warily I looked to him.

Sighing he leveled his gaze at me. "That bad?"

"It's not that it's bad. Something unexpected happened today…"

"…on you little errand I suppose?" He added.

I nodded. "Yeah, everything was fine with my pick up until I had to wait for the parts. Our contact, Lighthand, didn't have them ready for me."

"Please tell me you're going to say you just nearly died of boredom?" There he was trying again for me to smile.

This time I at least managed a small chuckle. "If it was only that simple."

"Complicated things aren't my forte." Smiling warmly at me he placed his hand gently on my leg. "Go on."

"He had a sparkling at his place." That came out easy.

"No kidding? It's been practically forever since I've seen one!" He sounded surprised. "Didn't think they still existed."

"Well, they do. His name was Silver." I smiled. "He waited with me the whole time."

"Silver, eh? Glad you had company."

"Yeah, that was a good thing, probably _would_ have died of boredom without him. You should meet him… he's very sweet and…" Skywarp decided to cut me off again.

"...uh, that's nice and all, TC, but what's this got to do with what you need to tell me?"

Sighing I dropped my head. Here went nothing. "Everything."

"Everything?"

Through our bond I felt his confusion, and I'm sure he felt my hesitancy among many other emotions. "He, Silver, had an instinctive…attachment to me. I…uh…" No more words wanted to come out of my mouth.

Thankfully Skywarp didn't try to finish that one for me. Instead he removed his hand from my leg and placed it gently on my shoulder. "What'd this sparkling do to get you so worked up?"

" 'Warp, I don't know how or why… but when he came in physical contact with me I could feel something...something coming from my spark." I knew I had to keep this simple.

"Feel something? Like what?" Was that a hint of foreboding I felt from him?

I was the only one in the world with the luxury of remote patience from Skywarp. "Sort of like what you and me felt when we first met each other, that strange pull from within…" My voice trailed off and I was getting nervous. "…the one that we just _knew_ we were supposed to be together."

Skywarp's voice became stern. "TC, you're not suggesting…"

"That there's some sort of deep connection with him? That fate is doing something weird with Silver in my…_our_ lives?" There, I had brought Skywarp into my predicament. I shook my head but kept my voice even. "There's something there and… and I need to know more, and why."

Skywarp removed his hand from me and held a vacant look in his optics. "_Our_ lives? _You've_ only just met him. How do you know?" It was obvious he didn't like what I was saying and he was trying to figure out how to take it.

"That's the point I'm making! Did you question our feelings, or the sense of connection _we_ felt?"

"That's different!" He snapped.

"How?" Both of our defenses were rising. "We felt it and acted on it!"

"I don't know! It just…is! Feelings or not I think we had more of a choice!" Skywarp couldn't seem to look at me after that.

"I personally don't think we did!" That might have been going too far. It was the only comparison I could think of…and I knew I had just insulted my bondmate with it.

Silence was my answer, and the conflicting feelings being shared through our bond was the only communication for a good ten minutes. Neither of us had closed ourselves off, both of us were reaching to the other for an answer. When you can physically feel what your partner wants to express and can't find the right words, it helps come to a resolve easier, or at least an empathetic understanding.

Tentatively I spoke again. "Skywarp… will you please consider what I'm trying to tell you?" With an effort I had calmed myself down outwardly.

He remained silent, but not for long. When he spoke up again he had lowered his voice. "I'm hearing you, I understand you, but don't know if I want to even think about what you're hinting at." He had turned back to me.

"Hinting? I'm being blatantly obvious."

With a raised finger he opened his mouth to speak and ended up laughing instead. This time I had the upper hand. Unfortunately I made myself crack a smile.

"You really feel ridiculously strongly about this, yes...you've got me right here." He placed a hand over his spark's location. After a few more light chuckles he placed his hand once again on my shoulder.

"You'd have to have been there 'Warp, to feel how it actually felt, not a second hand impression that you're getting from me. The feeling was so distinct I couldn't pass it off as just thinking 'Hey, what a cute sparkling. Can I keep him?' Don't think this isn't worrying me at all."

"I'm not thinking that, Mr. Obvious. What'd we do with a sparkling anyways?"

"You had to ask me that?" Leaning back on the couch I looked to the ceiling. "That's the part I haven't worked out yet. I'm sure we'd figure it out if that was the case. So…would you consider coming with me to meet him?"

Slowly he nodded his head. "Since it's causing you so much stress I guess I should. You know how this works, your stress is unfortunately my stress and I'd prefer to see you happy."

I took his hand in mine and squeezed it. "Thank you. There doesn't have to be any decisions right now. I think you just need to come and see if you pick up on any of what I felt. For all I know you won't and….then I won't know what to do." Depressing myself was a hard habit to break.

"Then we'll just be the way we've been for millions of years. Is that so bad?" He shrugged.

"No, my life has been quite complete with you. This is so hard for me… I'm torn on what to feel."

"Maybe you're just meant to help him find a happy home, not _be_ his happy home. He'd be more than a huge commitment, you know."

Taking his optimistic suggestion I smiled. "Helping him instead of committing to him? That might be possible."

Skywarp was silent a minute before speaking. "I'll stand by you on this one since it means so much to you, but let's just be careful. What if we _do_ end up taking him home with us?"

That questioned remained valid the second time. "Then we take it day by day?"

"I know nothing about sparklings, TC."

"We're in the same ship on that one…perhaps we should do some research?" Learning about the little life I was getting attached to might be useful.

"Yeah, guess that's a good idea. How about we do it now? There's no movies on that I want to see anyways." Skywarp was excellent about making some things sound convenient. He let go of my hand and got off the couch. He walked over to the computer in the corner and sat down in a chair. Skywarp was also good at changing from one task to the next with no second thoughts.

"Sure, that sounds good to me." I got up and joined him. "Let's see what's in the data banks."

We spent a few hours searching the limited Cybertronian data banks we had access to. Sparklings weren't of the utmost importance so we had to do some crafty digging. The knowledge we turned up wasn't very enlightening. Surprisingly enough I already knew about as much as we found out. I was right about my theory in the strange seams of Silver's armor and the odd spacing of the plates. His armor was designed to shift and grow as he did. The seams were very flexible and would easily conform to his changing size. There was no indication found as to why sparklings didn't have an alternate form. Skywarp suggested that'd be open for Silver to truly decide what he wanted to be when he grew up. Even though it sounded silly, and very human, I figured what he said made sense. When he was older and his systems were more developed he would find a form that suited him, scan it and adapt his body to it. It was in our nature as a Transformer after all.

I leaned closer to Skywarp. "I know you know, but you're taking this well."

Tearing himself away from the screen Skywarp looked at me. "I've got to."

Shaking my head at him I added. "No you don't. So… thank you."

Smiling a warm smile at me he answered "Connection with this Silver or not_, I'm_ still connected to _you_ and always will be. You do what you got to do." He closed down the information on the computer. "Don't think we'll be finding any more out tonight."

Sliding my chair out, I stood up. "No, you're right. There's probably no manual out there on raising young either."

Feeling some light humor coming on he threw in. "You could always take a trip and talk to some humans."

That was an idea. Not necessarily a bad one, just one that'd be the most awkward situation in my life. I could imagine myself with a data-pad walking a busy human city street looking for families and questioning them on how to raise children, I'm sure that'd go over well.

"I shall keep your suggestion in mind. For now though, it's been a busy day and I'm in need of some rest." Emotional battles were always more taxing than draining myself physically.

Following my lead Skywarp stood up. "Yeah, you need it." He reached up and caressed my cheek. "I'll be in shortly."

"Goodnight, love." Slowly I headed towards the room with our recharge berth.

Skywarp called after me. "Ah! One more thing!"

I stopped walking and turned back to him. "What?"

"Did you really want to go back to Silver tomorrow?"

"Are you ready for it?" It was probably a question I didn't need to ask but felt the need to.

There was honesty when he spoke. "As ready as I can be. If we wait then I'll have plenty of time to re-think and to go run screaming the other direction."

Laughing one more time at him I said my final goodnight, walked into our room and crawled into the recharge berth. I heard the sound of Skywarp sitting back down at the computer and clicking the keys…he was trying to find out more for us, I was sure of it. Knowing it would be a while before I was asleep I thought again of what happened today and sighed a long deep sigh. Fate would be helping make a decision for us and it was an uneasy realization to dwell on. After a short time Skywarp walked quietly into the room and I felt him lay down next to me on the berth. His presence calmed me and I finally relaxed letting myself drift off.

…

A/N: I want to thank those that have taken the time to come read my story. I rarely do any writing since it's not the strongest talent I have, but when I get in the mood I do enjoy it and like to share it for what it is, a story. Thank you for the reviews and input. I do take peoples suggestions into account for my writing.

Check out my Bio/Profile for links to images for this story.


	3. Decision

Decision

After getting some well needed rest my body slowly woke up. Feeling Skywarp's arm tucked securely around me I knew he was still in peaceful recharge. Today was it for us. We'd be making a decision about Silver. As fast as this was all happening, I knew our decision would not be hasty. Letting Skywarp meet Silver and for him to determine if he himself had a connection was going to be stressful for me. I'd be feeling what he was feeling and that was going to present a possible problem. My feelings would have to somehow be kept out of their interactions so I didn't provide forced influence. Skywarp would have to come to his own determination without me. Only then could we make a decision together.

Feeling generous, I decided to let Skywarp have another half hour of rest before waking him. I ran my hand along the arm that had me secured to the berth. '_Skywarp…'_I gently prodded his sleeping mind. '_It's time to wake up.'_

Moaning softly in response, Skywarp twitched his fingers. It always took him longer than me to wake up willingly.

'_Come on 'Warp,' _I turned my head towards him and watched a dull red glow appear in his optics. '_There you go.'_

'_Have mercy, will you?'_ Tired amusement sounded back at me, '_I'm up…I'm up.' _His optics increased in their brightness.

I decided to ask aloud, "Did you sleep well?" Skywarp removed his arm from me and I scooted to a sitting position.

Pushing himself up, he unfolded his bent wing then laid himself on his back. "Mostly, after _you_ calmed down."

Guilt crept over me, "Was I that bad?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry…" I guess my emotional conflict let me rest before it decided to call quits for the night.

He waved a hand in dismissal at me, "Don't worry about it. I'll forgive you…._this_ time." A wicked grin spread on his face.

Sighing I swung my legs off the berth and stood, "You're too kind."

Sitting up finally, a fully awake Skywarp knew it was never too early for playful sarcasm. "You don't need to remind me," he winked then asked me the straight out question. "So… shall we leave soon?"

Eagerness and jumping right into the fire once it was lit was a trait of his. "Yeah, like you said last night, it's best to just go and see what happens before you change your mind."

…

It didn't take us very long to prepare ourselves to go out. Once reaching the exit to the docking bay we transformed and flew towards the space bridge. It was unspoken as we decided to take a round about way to the transport. Both of us had a lot on our minds and the freedom the open sky had to offer would help calm our nerves…mine more than his apparently. Skywarp was surprising me in his calm acceptance of this whole situation and I was grateful to him.

'_There it is_,' we finally arrived. '_You ready?'_

'_TC…my answer has yet to change. I'm as ready as I can be."'_

Transforming once again we both landed with a dull thud on the hard earth. Walking to the small keypad Skywarp punched in the security code and coordinates. The gate opened up and both of us stepped inside, it closed and we were transported instantaneously to Cyberton.

When we were on solid ground again I turned to Skywarp and offered a rare suggestion, "Want to walk?"

Skywarp grinned at me. "Stalling?"

"Not so much as stalling, I honestly just need a few more minutes to collect myself." That was the truth. I was swiftly getting nervous.

"Okay then…we'll walk. Is it far?"

Exiting the space bridge, I walked slowly in the general direction we needed to go. Skywarp didn't complain as he followed me. "No it's not too far."

Walking side by side down the ruined streets made me long for the days before the war struck. We'd walk and fly together wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Now both of us being seen together caused alarm for the locals who I assumed thought we were here to rampage, and that thought made more stress for me. Knowing I was getting myself back in my previous depression loophole I focused my thoughts on Silver. I kept him on my mind until I stopped right outside Lighthand's door.

Steadying my nerves, I focused, "This is it."

"Not that pretty of a place." Skywarp was looking over the building.

"Not really. But it's a bit nicer inside."

Grinning, Skywarp held my gaze. "So…are _you_ ready?"

I nodded. "That's why we're here. No doubts…" I reached to the door and found that it was locked. "Hmmm it wasn't locked last time… guess we'll have to ring." I pushed the button on the wall; we stood waiting for a response.

After a short wait we heard one set of heavy footsteps pause on the other side of the door. "Who's there?" Lighthand's voice called.

"It's me, Thundercracker."

Lighthand could easily recognize my voice and opened the door for us. His expression when he saw me was unreadable since it looked like many were trying to come forth all at once. "I didn't expect you back...so soon."

Shock presented itself on my face even after he added his delayed 'so soon'. How could he _not_ expect me back after what happened? "No?" I squeaked out levelly, hiding my offense. I was going to say more, but Skywarp interjected.

"Aren't surprises always good?" He sounded cheerful.

Lighthand looked passed me to the new voice. "Most of the time…" he paused, registering he had never seen Skywarp before "…who are you?"

I took the liberty of answering that one. "That's Skywarp. I just figured… that it'd be a good idea if he met Silver..."

"I see." Lighthand's response was quiet and understanding. Nothing else had to be said for him to pick up on my relationship to Skywarp. "Come on in."

We both followed him inside back to the dim living area I was in the previous day. That fated door with the dark hallway was open. Skywarp was looking all around, taking in the scenery. I too looked around; there was no sign of Silver. Maybe he was back to hiding and waiting in the shadows? Looking into the blackness of the hall I did not see Silver's bright optics shining back at me.

A mild sadness tugged at me. I went into the dangerous zone of letting my imagination get the best of me; coming up with all sorts of reasons why Silver wasn't in sight. With much restraint I kept quiet.

My thoughts were interrupted by Lighthand. "Silver's upstairs resting, must have tired himself out last night. He was up talking to me …for quite a while." A small knowing smile appeared as he turned and headed upstairs.

'_There something notable about that? What's the big deal if they talked?'_ Skywarp sounded confused.

Realizing that I didn't indulge on any of Silver's actual personality traits I decided to give him some insight. '_It's a big deal because he's usually silent. At least that's what Lighthand had told me.'_

'_So…Silver having an extended conversation with anybody but you isn't normal?'_

Sighing inwardly I nodded, '_That's what I hear.'_

Skywarp seemed to find great amusement in that. '_Say's a lot about you.'_

Oh, the number of things I could have thought or said back to him on that one if it weren't for the disruptive, familiar footsteps on the stairs. They would descend and stop, descend and stop. I could hear Lighthand speaking softly, though I couldn't make out what he was saying. There was no doubt who he was talking to.

Finally appearing in the doorway was Lighthand, he was looking over his shoulder at the stairs. I could hear softer steps coming down very slowly after him. "Come on, Silver. Don't you want to see who's here?" Stepping out of the way, Lighthand allowed me a clear view of the stairs and of Silver; he looked very sleepy and was taking his time down the last few steps.

When Silver had reached the bottom step he brought his curious, dim optics up to see what fuss could have caused Lighthand to wake him up. The instant he saw me he froze, his optics became brighter than they were when I first met him. Disbelief was first to strike his face, followed shortly by the biggest, happiest smile I had seen on anyone in a long time. Crouching down one knee I waited for him as his little legs carried him swiftly over to me. When he reached me I hugged him.

Instantly wrapping his arms around me in return, he buried his face into my chest. "I missed Thundercracker."

"Did you?" After I had asked I felt him nod in response. "Well… even though I wasn't gone long…I missed you too."

We remained in our warm embrace for a minute before Silver whispered so softly, I had to lean close to hear him speak. "I knew you come back..."

Feeling that this was a moment just between us, I answered him just as softly. "Of course I was going to come back. I promised."

Raising his head back up he had a mischievous look in his optics. "Not because of promise."

"Not because I promised? Then how'd you know I was going to come back?" I was certain on his answer, but I wanted to hear him say it.

"Because…I felt it…here." Un-wrapping his arms from me, he remained very close as he placed both of his hands on his chest.

Even though I knew he was going to say something like that, actually hearing the words tugged at my spark. He was un-bashful and honest in trying to do what naturally felt right to him. Silver was acting on instinct, on what made him feel good. Maybe that was how it was supposed to be, simple, unquestioned, and accepting.

I stood up holding him in my arms, and snapped out of the world where Silver and I were the only two in existence I looked to my side where Skywarp stood last. He was gone. Looking the other direction Lighthand leaned comfortably in the doorway watching with his steady blue optics. '_Skywarp?'_

He responded, '_I'm on the couch. Couldn't bring myself to interrupt you two, I don't even think he's noticed me.'_

'_Why did you go over there?'_

I could imagine his shrug before his simple answer._ 'Didn't feel I needed to be there just yet, that's all.'_

'_Ah…okay… then now, I think, is the time.' _Turning to the couch, I saw Skywarp stand and remain in place, he looked amusedly at me. Thankfully all my worked up stress had melted away for the time and I walked over to him.

Silver didn't notice I was moving even. He was resting comfortably, peacefully against me, oblivious to the rest of the world. Knowing he was tired I could imagine him slipping into recharge before meeting my mate and I couldn't have that happen. "Hey, Silver…" I nudged him gently to get his attention focused again. "There's someone else I'd like you to meet."

"Who?" He raised his tired head up to look around.

I turned in a way so Silver could now see Skywarp standing at my side. He shrank down slightly into me. Maybe he was reflexively assuming this new somebody was going to try to take him away from me. "Hey…its okay, he's not going to hurt you. His name is Skywarp. Skywarp…I'd like you to meet Silver."

His amusement and curiosity was broadcasting loud and clear to me through our bond. "Hi there, Silver." Playfully he cocked his head to the side. "You're sure a tiny little 'bot." He leaned forward and waved in a friendly manner.

'_Skywarp!'_

Skywarp was holding his grin. '_What?'_ There was that innocence again. '_He is!'_

'_So…there's nothing else you could think of saying?' _My outward appearance remained calm while mentally lecturing Skywarp. In the meantime Silver was silent, but no longer trying to dig into my body. Instead he leaned out and was staring at Skywarp from head to toe.

'_No…' _I don't know how exactly Skywarp did it, but he kept himself from laughing.

I continued_, 'You could upset him saying things like that!'_

A small voice spoke up, "Skywarp?" Silver broke our mental debate.

"Yeah?" Skywarp turned his attention to Silver. '_So the fact he is even speaking my name is a good thing?'_

Not answering him mentally, I nodded instead.

Silver looked at me again, then back to Skywarp. He was getting in to that deep thought process I was starting to recognize. "You have same feet...but...not same color." A proud smile spread across Silver's face. "That means you family!"

Confusion became evident on Skywarp as he looked to me for an answer on what Silver was even talking about. I understood in full this strange reasoning and how he came to that conclusion. I had no answer to offer my mate as I burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Silver went right back to his somewhat serious expression as he proceeded to visually compare us further.

Skywarp poked at me, "TC, did I…miss something?"

I shook my head vigorously at him, "Oh, no… not much really." My laughing hadn't stopped yet.

Silver stopped his inspection of us and turned back to me. "TC?"

"Hmmm?" I forced myself to calm down.

Pointing at Skywarp, Silver continued to have his attention on me. "He call you TC?"

"Yes. Skywarp likes to call me that."

"Why?"

Skywarp wanted to jump in on that answer. "He's just got such a looooooooooooooooooong name; I thought I should make it shorter."

I scowled at Skywarp. _'Oh so that's how it is now? It wasn't a playful, loving nickname?'_

'_Oh you know it is.' _His response was affectionate.

Silver exclaimed, "I say same thing!" Quieting down and almost shyly he asked, "I call you TC?"

That small questioned warmed me to my core. "Yeah, you can call me TC if you want."

"Okay…TC." Silver giggled as Skywarp grinned at him.

"Silver, you said he had a long name too?" Skywarp took this little revelation as an opportunity to start his friendship with 'Master of the Obvious Jr.' He reached up his arms and gently, easily dislodged Silver from me. Silver didn't have any noticeable problem or flinching entering Skywarp's hold. In fact he quickly started back in on the conversation about my name.

'_He seems to like you.' _I reached up and petted Silver's back before stepping away from them.

'_And you are going where?' _

I walked over to the doorframe to where Lighthand was still stationed_. 'To leave you two alone for a bit… you need to see what happens without me here.'_

'_Ah, got it. So…I guess we'll just be here then.'_

'_Of course you will, love.' _

Lighthand straightened himself up and motioned for me to follow him upstairs. I looked one more time to Skywarp, he had flopped himself on the couch at an angle that allowed him to rest a leg across its surface while the other rested on the floor. Silver perched himself on the leg that rested on the couch and was all smiles as he and Skywarp chatted.

"Looks promising," Lighthand said to me as we reached the second floor, "I haven't seen Silver that happy."

"No?" Checking out my surroundings I saw that the majority of this upstairs room had been converted into a workshop. There were pieces of metal scrap scattered around, tools, and a number of unknown unfinished projects on a large work table.

"Never." He went and sat on his workbench. "I'm very happy for him, but honestly torn at the same time."

I felt a nasty prickly sensation inside on where this was leading. "Torn?" Crossing my arms over my chest I remained standing and stared down at him.

Lighthand looked up at me evenly. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you did return today with your mate, I assume, to think about taking Silver, right?"

Not flinching from my spot I nodded. "Yes…"

"My concerns for his well being are legitimate," he looked to the symbol on my wing again, "considering your history."

I scowled at him. "Things have…_are_…changing."

"I won't say I haven't noticed." He was unfazed by me.

"Then what's the problem?"

"Oh, I suppose nothing for now. I just wanted my say." Lighthand leaned back on his bench.

Not feeling the desire to pursue this conversation on his worry about Skywarp and myself serving the Decepticons, a new thought came to mind. "You said he talked to you last night?"

Shaking his head and grinning to the fact I'd changed the subject he answered me. "Yes, indeed he did. It caught me by surprise."

Slowly unfolding my arms I went and sat myself on a stray bench. "Can you tell me about it?" I really did want to know what was said from the usually silent Silver.

Looking thoughtful he nodded. "I suppose so. When you left he was really depressed, and when I set him back down he ran out the door looking to see if you were still there. He said he saw you flying away…"

"But," I interjected, "I knew he believed me when I said I was coming back."

"Yes he did, it just wasn't stopping him from being sad though. He didn't understand if he was happy, and you were happy…why you left. You making him so comfortable, even for a short time made him open up to me."

"If it makes you feel any better, I stressed too." I managed a smiled.

"Stress from any angle is still stress. But it's good to know you do feel something for him."

"More than a something," I averted my optics, "it was a kind of …knowing."

"Maybe like it was meant to be? That for some unknown reason he was created with you two in mind?" Lighthand stated the facts like Silver or Skywarp would, simple.

Absently nodding my head I knew he was right. Those thoughts had been crossing my mind; all that was left was to see how Skywarp felt. He needed more time alone with Silver, so I kept up the conversation. "It couldn't have been said any better. So….uh…would we just take him and that's that?"

"That's how it has always been. Nothing formal needs to be done. It's a choice between you, your mate, and Silver."

"Does he need anything…special for his care?"

"Not much different than your own basic needs. He's just more fragile physically, which of course will change over time. Young inexperienced minds do need to be occupied. He'll want to play and learn what he can, when he can, and will need an outlet to do so."

I thought of Silver playing and happy. "Play….what does he like to play?"

Lighthand pointed over to a corner of the room where there was a small makeshift bench with some leftover work scraps and simple, non-dangerous tools sitting on it. Some looked like they had been pieced together in various simple fashions in an attempt to create something. "He seems to enjoy tinkering when he can. Unfortunately I don't have much else to offer him."

"What else is there?" I walked over to take a look at Silver's attempted creations. I couldn't tell what he was trying to make but they were pieced thoughtfully together.

"What else? There used to be those that would create toys and activities as needed for sparklings so you can check into that. Honestly it's all based on individuality. You'd just have to ask him."

"Yeah, makes sense." A deep sigh escaped me and I went to sit down next to Lighthand. "What if it doesn't work?"

Lighthand kept a calm expression and looked at me levelly. "Then…I'm still here for him."

The scrap metal on the floor held my attention while I thought. "That'd be okay by you?"

"Yes, but don't assume that's going to happen."

"What if we _don't_ decide to take him?" I continued to stare at the scrap.

"Don't take him?" Lighthand leaned forward to draw my attention. "I think you're decision's been made already." He smiled.

Looking back towards him and into his optics I knew he knew for certain what was going to happen. I think I knew too, I just hadn't come to settlement yet. He had experienced all of Silver's attempts to find a home and this was the first experience that held real promise.

When I spoke, it was quiet. "You're right. I'm just very unsure that we'll do things, well, right."

"There is no right way for growing up," the smile still played on his face, "you two will make the biggest mental impression on him…so…"

"I know, I know." I didn't want to go there.

"It shouldn't be much different than getting used to your mate."

I laughed, _only if he knew_. "You don't _know_ my mate."

Lighthand was fast on picking things up. "Then what is there to worry about? You've had a lot of practice." He too, laughed.

"That I have." I leaned back and made myself comfortable. "I need to give Skywarp a little more time."

"Take whatever time you need." Lighthand swung himself around and faced the workbench. "I have time." He went back into working on one of his projects.

I watched Lighthand work for at least an hour. It didn't matter that I didn't know what he was making, it only mattered that it helped pass time. An hour should be enough for Skywarp to get an impression. It took less than that for me.

Slowly getting off the bench I looked to Lighthand. "I think I've giving him enough time."

He stopped his tinkering, turned to me and smiled again. "Then go on."

Off I went. Cautiously I crept down the stairs like I was sneaking up on unsuspecting prey. It wouldn't matter how quiet I went, Skywarp would know I was coming. When I had arrived in the open doorway the sight I saw on the couch brought a warm feeling into my spark. Skywarp had sprawled into a reclining position with Silver draped across his chest. Both of them were resting, though Silver looked like he was in a deep recharge.

'_You awake?'_ I mentally called out to Skywarp.

Dim red optics turned to me. _'Yeah, I'm up, can't say the same for Silver.'_

'_I can see that. Did you bore him to death?' _I took slow quiet steps over to the couch.

'_Indeed. We talked about you.' _

Laughing quietly I crouched down next to them. _'Well?'_

'_TC, you were right. I do feel something with him… I'm sure it's not as powerful as it is with you, but it's there, I could tell he felt it too... What do you want to do?'_

'_I know what I want, Skywarp, but you have to want it too.'_

Skywarp looked down to Silver and then back to me. _'Do you think we can do it?'_

'_Yes. Are you willing to explore what we feel?" _I hoped I sounded a lot more confident than I was feeling.

'_I…think so.'_ Skywarp thought to me slowly.

'_We'll have to go by our own philosophy and just take it day by day.'_

Skywarp turned back to Silver. _'Do we need more room for him?'_

'_I don't think so, not yet at least.'_ I reached up and ran my finger along Silver's helm, he didn't budge. _'You were the one that said he was tiny.'_

'_Me and my big mouth.' _Skywarp would have rolled his optics if he could.

'_Lighthand says there's nothing formal about us taking him.'_

'_That's good to know. Don't want to get in trouble for uh, abduction or something like that. So… you want to tell Silver he's going to have a new home?'_ Skywarp shifted so he could come to a sitting position with Silver resting upright against him.

'_I can do that.' _Gently I rubbed his back. "Silver..."

There was still no sign of consciousness. Silver looked so comfortable in Skywarp's arms that I didn't really want to wake him up, I might have even been slightly jealous. It would be nice to let him rest until he woke up in a brand new home, but that had the potential of scaring him.

"Silver…" I tried again and received a small squeak in return. "He's worse than you, 'Warp."

Skywarp grinned. "Quite possible."

This time I tried a new approach by tickling him in the side, "Silver…" this time I received a response. He giggled and tried to squirm away from my finger.

Silver's optics finally came online, they were dim with fatigue. He stopped giggling and focused on me. "Hi…TC." He was still content to let Skywarp hold him.

"Hi there." I brushed a finger against his cheek. There were so many ways on how to let him know that he was going to come home with us. I was thinking about explaining what we were feeling and why we were making the choice we were, but knew it wasn't going to be necessary. So I did what came out easily, naturally, fully understandable. "So…you ready to go home?"

Silver was stunned and was probably trying to figure out if he had heard and understood me right. He looked up to Skywarp for a confirmation and received a warm smile and a nod. Then he looked back to me, waiting once again to see what I had to say. His optics had gone bright and alert.

I removed him from Skywarp's arms and set him on his feet next to me. "Go get your stuff."

His mouth hung open at me. I still don't think he was processing the information. "Go on." I gave him a small pat on the back to get him moving.

That was all it took for him to scramble across the room, through the door, up the stairs and disappear out of sight.

"That was easy." Skywarp stood and helped me up. "What kind of stuff is he bringing?"

"All he's got."

Skywarp looked confused. "Thought you said we wouldn't need more room."

"Oh don't worry, we won't. He has some scraps of material from Lighthand's work that he likes to make things with."

"Ah! A budding artist?" He laughed.

"We'll find out."

There was some clattering noise from upstairs, followed by some words from Lighthand, and then all went silent until one set of heavy footsteps came down the stairs. Lighthand came once again into the room with a smiling wide-awake Silver grasped under one arm and a small case under the other. He set Silver on the floor, who came running over to us and wrapped his arms around my leg.

"Forgetting something?" Lighthand held out the small case.

"Oops…" Silver let go of my leg and ran back to Lighthand to retrieve his prize. "…thank you." He turned to come back to us and paused. He faced Lighthand and reached out for a hug.

I watched his affectionate action in wonder. This quiet little sparkling, according to Lighthand, was at least appreciative and knew he was taken care of. An embrace was a simple effective way to show it.

Lighthand leaned over and hugged him in return. "Make sure you behave, and make sure they bring you back to visit."

"Okay!" Nodding like crazy he let Lighthand go and bolted back to clinging to my leg.

Smiling at both of us, Lighthand waved a farewell. "You'll be fine, I'm sure of it. You do know where to find me." With that he turned and headed back upstairs.

"Bye!" Skywarp called after him. _'Hmph…so it really is just that simple? We're just going to walk out the door with him?'_

'_Yeah, guess so. I'm sure Lighthand could track us down if he really wanted.'_ I looked down at Silver. "Have you ever flown before?"

Silver shook his head. "No."

I took the small case from his hand and secured it. "Would you like to?" The three of us walked outside.

"Is it scary?"

Skywarp knelt down to him. "It's not scary when you fly with TC. He'll hold you nice and tight so you won't fall."

"Not want to fall," Silver sounded like he was thinking it over as usual, "want to fly!" Smiling brightly he raised his arms to me.

I picked him up and held him securely to my chest. "You ready?"

"Yeah, I ready." Silver nestled himself closer.

" 'Warp?"

"I'm always ready."

"Then let's go home." There was a small shriek of fright from Silver and he clung tighter as I lifted off the ground bringing him into the air for the first time. "It's okay, Silver… you're not going to fall."

He turned his head sideways and took a peek at the ground far below. "Ohhh….high!" He then craned his neck looking up and down at me. "You not fly like you were before!"

"No?" Lighthand did tell me he saw me fly off yesterday.

"Not look the same."

"Oh! You're right! Did I look like Skywarp?"

Silver looked around again until he located Skywarp who had transformed into his Earthen F-15 mode and was flying gracefully along side of us. "Uh-huh, you look like that!"

"I'm a lot faster when I look like that, but don't need to be that way to fly. Besides…if I were that way right now I wouldn't be able to hold on to you." He could see me smiling down at him.

Silver was now looking at the view, not afraid and thoroughly enjoying himself. "I like not falling."

I couldn't agree more with him. "Me too."

The flight to the space bridge was short and I landed ahead of Skywarp. Silver was fascinated watching him do a mid-air transformation into a graceful touchdown. Once Skywarp had landed he took the liberty of punching the coordinates into the space bridge for us. I felt right about what we were doing and at the same time completely clueless. Silver was going to be a learning experience for both Skywarp and I. I hoped from the bottom of my spark that we had it in us to make it work, and it was also from the depth of my spark that I knew it would. With that being my last thought, we stepped forward into the space bridge and headed home.

**A/N:** Again…thank you all very much for reading my little piece of fluff and taking it for what it is. Sometimes one just has to get it out of their system without being over technical. I think the next few chapters might be short and each character getting a chance for a POV, so I'll do my best to keep the flow.

**PICTURES:** I have two pictures for this story now. Both links can be found under my profile page.


	4. Home

Home

New experiences can be both positive and negative. You learn from them, and they create memories. Our first memorable one was right after leaving the space bridge. It happened in the simple act of flying back home. Silver had never been off Cybertron before and the expression of wonder that showed after seeing the alien landscape of Earth for the first time was amazing. He asked so many questions about his new surroundings that he didn't pause for answers. Skywarp and I just let him ask. We knew we'd have plenty of time to show him absolutely everything.

Our second memorable moment after arriving home was when Skywarp, Silver, and I arrived back at the base. We were stared at by every Decepticon that was present. To tell the truth, it was really only Silver that was being stared at. Through the long years of chaos, a sparkling in our midst was more than rare. Skywarp waved off the attention easily enough but it made me uneasy. Since I was still holding Silver, I moved my arms to strategically cover as much of his body as I could. Silver didn't know what to make of all the inquisitive optics locked on him so he simply hid his face and pretended they didn't exist. I wished I could do the same thing.

"So nobody around here has _anything_ better to do?" Skywarp was speaking to me but made sure his voice was loud enough for those around us to hear, his rank did hold benefits.

Some continued to stare while others looked quickly away and went back to their tasks. Skywarp leaned close to me and whispered. "Just ignore them, TC."

"That's what I'm _doing_." Even though I was familiar with the faces behind the stares and had been for many years, this was now quite awkward.

"No you're not. You're letting them get to you." Skywarp responded quietly. "You're on the brink of laser beams shooting out of your optics."

"Let's just…get back to our quarters." My previously happy mood was ruined for the moment.

"TC?" Silver peeked up.

"He's okay, Silver." Skywarp forced a cheery tone, moved in front of me and took Silver away from my sheltering arms. _'You're going to make him think you're mad at him you know.' _ Skywarp thought at me.

'_No I won't!' _I clenched my fists and turned back to look the direction we came. A few offending stares remained. _'They're really getting on my nerves.'_

'_Yes, that's obvious. But let's keep this as a happy homecoming for now.' _ Skywarp had distracted Silver from my mood by walking over to a dark portal and allowing him to look out.

'_You're right.'_ With a mighty effort I put my mood at bay and joined them. "See anything good?"

Silver had his face practically squashed against the thick glass. "Not see anything, so dark..." He looked back and forth, "…why so dark?"

The only light outside was from a few dim runners. "Well," I peered out, "remember that big bright thing in the sky?"

"Yeah." Silver answered.

"That's what makes this planet light and warm. It's called the sun."

"Sun? How come the sun can't light here?"

He was finally giving me the opportunity to answer some questions. "We're very deep below the surface of the ocean, which was the big blue wet thing we flew over before landing here. The deeper we are, the darker it is. Not even the light of the sun can be seen."

"No light is scary." Silver turned to me. "You scared?"

"Me? No, I have Skywarp to protect me."

"He doesn't know I'm scared of the dark." Skywarp winked.

Silver laughed at Skywarp. "You funny."

"I try my best!"

I decided to add a little onto that conversation. "It's not really scary down here, although both Skywarp and I would rather be closer to the surface so we can fly easier."

"I like flying! It was lots of fun and..." Silver pushed his face up against the glass again. "…what that?" A small fish had swum close enough to be seen. "It flying!"

Skywarp leaned to look. "Is it?'

"Yeah, see?" He pointed, tapping his finger on the glass and scaring away the fish. "Oh! Where it go?"

"Awww, I think it heard you and flew away."

"I…sorry…" Silver kept his face in the window in hopes of seeing the small fish again.

"Skywarp? Want to tell him what it was actually doing or shall I take on the roll of designated teacher?"

"I'm just having some fun, TC," said Skywarp.

"I understand. He just doesn't know any better and you could really mess him up. Let's just help him learn the correct way first."

Skywarp pulled Silver from the window and put on a mock serious face. "Okay, you heard TC; I have to give you the facts. That little thing you saw, that's called a fish. It only _looked_ like it was flying. When something flies in the water like that it's called swimming." Both Silver and I laughed at his mock teacher impression.

Being the inquisitive sparkling, Silver asked a few more questions about the fish and the water. He determined for himself that flying and swimming were almost the same activity. One involved the air, the other a liquid. He was disappointed when I tried to explain to him that he would never be a good swimmer and even more disappointed when I told him I didn't know if he'd ever be able to fly. We talked as we continued walking to our quarters.

"This is where we'll be living." Skywarp made the announcement. "Will you do the honors, TC?"

"Of course." I punched the combination into the keypad to open the door. "It's not as big as you're used to, Silver, but I hope you can make it home."

Skywarp set Silver on his feet and followed me inside. Silver was enthusiastic looking around our living space. It was small and consisting of only two and a half rooms. But the commodities we owned were much newer and cleaner than he was used to. He was excited that we even had a portal to look out. I knew watching for various sea-life was going to be a new hobby of his.

I trailed him around his self guided tour. "What do you think, Silver?"

"About new home?"

"Yeah, do you like it?"

He smiled and nodded. "I like it!"

"I'm glad."

"Um," Silver paused and laced his fingers together, "can I look out window again?"

I couldn't figure out why he was hesitant to ask something so simple. "Of course! You don't have to ask."

"Need help to look, it…too high." He pointed at the portal halfway up the wall.

Real issues with his size hadn't occurred to me. "So it is! Let me help you with that." I pulled one of our computer chairs over and put it next to the wall "See if you can see through the window if you stand on this."

Silver climbed up onto the chair. He still didn't reach the portal.

"Hmmmm, guess we will just have to find something else for you."

Skywarp looked around. "What about that?" He pointed at a heavy storage chest.

I shook my head "It's not any higher than the chair."

"We could put the chair on top."

"It's worth a try. Silver, can you get off the chair for a moment?"

Silver climbed down and moved out of the way as I lifted the chair up. Skywarp scooted the chest across the floor until it was up against the wall; I then placed the chair back on top and checked it for stability. Thankfully, the chair didn't have legs; the base was flat and square.

Silver climbed up onto the chair. He still didn't fully reach the portal.

"Hmmmm, guess we will just have to find something else for you."

Skywarp looked around. "What about that?" He pointed at a heavy storage chest.

I shook my head "It's not any higher than the chair."

"We could put the chair on top."

"It's worth a try. Silver, can you get off the chair for a moment?"

Silver climbed down and moved out of the way as I lifted the chair up. Skywarp scooted the chest across the floor until it was up against the wall; I then placed the chair back on top and checked it for stability. Thankfully chair didn't have legs; the base was flat and square.

"Okay." I said. "Can you still get up there?"

"I think so." Silver nodded.

Carefully he climbed onto the chest, then up onto the seat of the chair. He smiled brightly and looked through the portal.

"Do you feel nice and tall now?" Skywarp playfully asked.

Silver giggled. "No."

"No? How can you say that?" Skywarp leaned down to be optic to optic with Silver.

"I still look up at you!"

Skywarp laughed. "You'll be looking up for a long time."

Both of them giggled for a minute before Silver went back to looking out the portal. Skywarp patted Silver on the head and went to sit in front of the computer.

"Do you see any more fish out there?" I asked.

"Um…yeah! There's lots right over there."

Silver was going to point and tap on the glass again. I reached and caught his hand in mine.

"Remember what happened last time when you did that?"

He nodded and cast his optics down to the floor. "I…scare it away."

"Yes, but you didn't do it on purpose. Little fish don't like noise. A small tap sounds loud to them and they swim away."

"Sorry." Silver pouted.

I smiled. "It's okay."

"You not mad?"

I spoke softly to him. "No. I'm not mad at you."

"Then I not tap." He brought his optics back up to mine. "I not want to be scary to fish."

"Good." I let go of his hand.

Silver and I looked out the portal for over an hour. Every fish he saw was exciting and new. I didn't know what kind we were looking at, so Skywarp hooked into some Earth resources and looked them up. It was enlightening for all of us.

"So…" said Skywarp. " What else would you like to do?"

Silver pulled away from the window and climbed down. "We see more of home?"

"I can take you to do that." Skywarp stood. "If it's okay with TC?"

I was hesitant. I didn't like the thought of Silver drawing more attention than he did earlier. I did trust Skywarp to protect him though. "Well…I guess it would be okay."

"You're the greatest, TC." Skywarp grinned at me.

Silver must have had a hidden energy reserve. His optics lit up with excitement again. "Thank you, TC!" He bounced over to Skywarp, reached up and held his hand. "We go now?"

"Yeah, we go now." Skywarp looked at me. "Did you want to come?"

"No, I'd better stay here for now."

"No problem. We'll try not to have too much fun without you." Skywarp waved goodbye with his free hand.

"Bye, TC!" Silver also offered me a wave as they walked out.

It was two hours after Skywarp and Silver left that I began to worry. The base was big, but not_ that_ big. I convinced myself to wait around a while longer before going to find them. I figured Silver found something interesting and that's what was taking so long.

Twenty more minutes had me on my feet wandering the corridors looking for the twosome. I went to the rec room first. There were games to play and portals to look out, but they weren't there. I headed to the control room next since I always made fun of Skywarp finding high entertainment in flashing-beeping things. Neither of them was to be found. Then I started to rely on good old asking around. I had to hide my panic when nobody had seen them. Maybe Skywarp had teleported outside and was flying with Silver? I was about to give up when I found somebody who said he saw Skywarp in a hallway two decks above us. I walked quickly to the nearest lift and went up.

Stepping off the lift, I looked around. Skywarp and Silver weren't in sight. I was walking down a hallway when I heard a distinct giggle. I stopped and stood still, hoping to hear it again. The next sound I picked up was whispering, followed by that same giggle. As quietly as I could I walked towards the sound. I was not happy with what I saw.

Skywarp and Silver were down a side passage with their backs pressed to the wall. They were turned away from me staring intently at the main walk on the other side. Actually, they looked like they were stalking it. Silver had a small gun in his hand. His finger was on the trigger.

"Silver!" I yelled without hesitation. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Silver jumped when he heard me and the weapon clattered to the floor. He tucked himself behind Skywarp's leg.

"Hey…TC." Skywarp piped in. "It's not what you think." He offered me an innocent smile.

"What do you mean?!" I stomped over and got in Skywarp's face. "What was he doing with_ that_?!"

"Calm down, it's…"

"Calm down? I let you take him on a little tour and he's pointing guns!" I pointed at the fallen weapon.

Skywarp knelt, picked up the weapon and held it out to me. "TC, it's harmless…"

"Harmless?!" I snatched it from his hand.

Skywarp remained casual. "It's a human toy called a paintball gun. They use it to splat people with paint."

"Paint? I don't care if it shoots the air!"

"But, it won't hurt anyone." Skywarp wasn't getting the point.

"Skywarp…" I brought my tone lower.

Skywarp shook his head. "You're going overboard here."

"No I'm not! Most everyone around here wouldn't take a gun pointed at them as something fun. Most are like me, Skywarp; they don't know it's not going to hurt them. They could lash out and hurt Silver!"

"Not with _me_ here!" Skywarp said defensively.

"What if you _weren't_ here?"

"Then….uh….it wouldn't have happened?" Skywarp averted his optics.

"Oh? Why is that?"

"I made him do it, TC. It…it was just the right size for him and…"

I sighed. "We can talk about this later."

Skywarp nodded.

I looked down to where Silver hid. He had shrunk into a small, trembling ball and was trying to disappear into the back of Skywarp's leg.

"Silver?" I spoke softly to him.

There was no response.

"Silver?" I crouched down.

I looked up at Skywarp. He slowly moved his leg, taking away Silver's hiding place.

"Silver?"

I reached and gently placed a hand on Silver's shoulder. He cringed and pulled closer into himself.

"Silver, it's me. It's okay."

"No…no...n…not want t…to go." Silver sounded terrified. "D...don't…"

"Hey," I stroked his back softly, "what's wrong?"

"I…I sorry. P...please…keep me…"

'_Keep him?'_ Skywarp thought at me. _'Why wouldn't we keep him?'_

'_I don't know.' _

Silver uncurled just enough to scoot away from me and back to the shelter of Skywarp's leg. Skywarp bent down and ran his finger along the back of Silver's helm, there was no flinching.

'_I'll take him back to our quarters.' _Skywarp thought softly at me as he picked up the trembling Silver. _'Can you give me a few minutes to talk to him?'_

'_Yeah, just…call me when you're ready.'_

Heaving a depressed sigh, I slid the rest of the way to the floor and watched Skywarp carry Silver off. Yelling in front of Silver wasn't the best idea and I didn't think about consequences. It looked like Silver thought I was going to punish him physically for his actions, then disown him. Maybe he had that kind of experience with a previous guardian.

Although Skywarp angered me with this prank, I had trust in him to talk to Silver. His words would be genuine and simple. I was still going to need to have a private conversation with Skywarp on leaving Silver out of his schemes. I also owed an apology to Silver. All I could do for the moment was sit and wait.

Within twenty minutes I got Skywarp's call on my internal 'com and headed back to our quarters. When I entered, Skywarp was on the couch with Silver curled in his lap.

"He's okay, TC." Skywarp said.

"Is he?" I went and sat next to Skywarp.

"Yeah…he knows you're not mad at him."

Silver uncurled and sat up. He looked fatigued again.

"Silver?" I ventured softly.

He looked up at me.

"Listen… I'm really sorry I yelled like that. I didn't mean to upset you." I slowly reached to him, he didn't flinch.

"It okay, TC." Silver spoke softy.

"I'm not mad at you and I'm not going to give you away."

"Skywarp tell me that." Silver took my hand and helped himself up.

"Did he?"

"Uh-huh." Silver came and rested against my side. "He say he sorry too."

I wrapped my arm around Silver and held him close. "We both mean it."

"I know…it okay."

After a few minutes of silence I brought on a new topic. "Are you hungry?"

Silver nodded. "Yeah."

Skywarp stood up. "I'll get him some energon."

"Thanks 'Warp." I said.

Skywarp brought a small cube of energon to Silver. "Here ya go."

"Thank you." Silver took the cube and sat down next to me.

I watched him sip at the cube. "After you finish that, I think you should get some rest."

"Yeah, I tired."

"Where's he going to sleep?" Skywarp asked.

"Uh, well… I guess in our berth for now. We'll have to look into getting him one of his own."

'_So this just means you have to keep your naughty hands to yourself." _Skywarp thought to me and shot me a sly grin.

Sarcastically I thought back. '_That's just so much easier done than said.' _Skywarp's optics widened and I gave him a smug grin

He joined us on the couch and turned on the view screen. Silver stared in wonder as Skywarp flipped through channels.

"What those?" Silver pointed at the screen.

Skywarp had settled on a movie where a bunch of humans were having some sort of strategy meeting on how to deal with a giant lizard.

"Those are called humans." I told Silver.

"Humans? What a humans?"

"Humans are the people that live on this planet."

"They not robots?"

"Hardly!" Skywarp proclaimed. "They're really tiny, even smaller than you. Their skin is soft and squishy."

"Oh…they look weird." Silver stared at the faces on the screen.

"Yeah, I can't argue with that." I chuckled. "We can show you some real ones soon."

"Really?"

Skywarp nodded. "When you are all rested up we'll take you back outside."

"Sound fun!" Silver smiled.

As soon as Silver had finished off his energon, he pulled his legs up to his chest and tucked himself into my side. It was the same as he had done the previous day. I let him rest there as we watched the movie for a while.

Silver eventually slipped into recharge. Gently I lifted him and carried him to our berth. I watched him for a few minutes before going back to the couch. He was content and peaceful.

"He'll be out for a while." I said as I joined Skywarp once again.

"Yeah, he finally remembered he was tired."

"Listen, 'Warp, I'm not going to say much more about what happened…"

"You don't need to." Skywarp cut me off.

"All right, I know you understand. Just…be careful."

"I know, I know." Skywarp nodded. He was definitely not in the mood for a lecture.

Skywarp and I sat watching movies for a few hours before deciding to get some rest. Both of us knew we needed to be fully charged and ready to go when taking Silver out into the world. I knew there was a lot we were all going to teach each other.

It wasn't difficult for us to arrange ourselves comfortably on the recharge berth. Skywarp lay down on his side as usual. I had picked up Silver and draped him over my chest as I lay on my back. I felt that tug in my spark again with Silver so close and wondered what it meant. I decided not to think too hard on it; instead I relaxed and accepted what I was feeling. The tug quickly eased and was followed by warmth. Silver sighed and shifted his body a bit. I could see he was smiling in his sleep.

A/N: As usual, check my profile for some pictures for this story. Thanks for the reads/favorites/reviews/ and constructive criticism. I'm working on my writing skills and it's like my drawing… quite the slow process. So thanks for sticking with me.


	5. Outings: Part 1

* * *

Outings: Part 1

I woke up hours later and Silver was deep in recharge as he lay curled on my chest. I still felt that odd, comfortable warmth with our contact. I was about to wake Silver when a dim light emanating from the seams in the center of his chest caught my attention. Curious, I lifted him up and pulled him close to get a better look. There was a soft white glow coming from within him. Was it from his spark? I ran my finger gently along the lighted area; it was the source of the warmth.

I had a theory to test. I pulled Silver to my chest and the glow brightened. When I moved him further away it dimmed. Pulling him close one more time, the light intensified. I was extremely surprised when I noticed an identical white glow coming from myself, my spark. I had no clue what was happening Worries crept into my mind that he was engaging in some sort of weird bond with me. I moved him away from my body and gently laid him next to Skywarp. The light and warmth faded away.

Gathering my thoughts, I tentatively reached within myself. There was no lingering trace of Silver's presence and my fear eased. I knew there was some sort of connection between us, as for what kind I wasn't sure.

"Silver, your workings are a mystery to me." I whispered softly.

There was no response of course. It looked like Silver and Skywarp could probably sleep all day. Personally, I was looking forward to showing Silver some of the world and decided it was time to wake them up.

I reached over and rubbed Skywarp's wing. "Morning."

"Mmmm….is it?" Skywarp responded sleepily.

"Yeah, time to get up." I withdrew my hand.

"I was so comfy too." Skywarp turned his head and looked at Silver. A fond smile settled on his face.

"What're you thinking?" I asked.

Skywarp chuckled. "Do I look cute like that when I sleep?"

"_Only_ when you sleep."

Skywarp playfully swatted at me and missed. "Want me to wake him?"

I nodded. "Sure."

"Silverrrrrrrrrrrrrr…." Skywarp remembered the method I had used to wake him before and tickled at his side.

Silver quickly woke in a fit of giggles. "S..stop!"

Skywarp being Skywarp did not heed his request. "Stop? Stop what?" He sounded innocent, and clueless.

"T...tickles!"

"Oh! You want me to stop tickling you?" Skywarp propped himself on his side and loomed over Silver.

"Yes!" Silver rolled away from Skywarp's hand and into the shelter of his wing.

"Okay, I'll stop." He smiled down at Silver.

A wicked grin spread on Silver's face. "I tickle too!" Quickly he ran his fingers along the underside of Skywarp's wing.

"H-hey! Not fair!" Skywarp laughed.

I watched the two of them play with each other. Both lived in the moment and laughed without holding back. Their fun was contagious and I couldn't resist teaming up with Silver to continue tickling Skywarp.

"Okay…okay, I give up!" Skywarp threw his hands up in exasperated defeat and sat up.

"We win!" Silver ducked under Skywarp's wing, stood up and rested against his back.

"Yes, we did!" I proclaimed. "Did you rest well, Silver?"

Silver didn't seem to hear me. He had begun giving the back of Skywarp's wing a through examination.

Skywarp raised an optic ridge at me in confusion. "What's he doing, TC?"

"He's just seeing what makes you tick." I winked. "I'm pretty sure we're the first fliers he's ever seen up close."

It was amusing to watch the various expressions on Silver's face. He was serious as he poked at each section of the wing. He would move in really close, and then pull away with a smile. Skywarp purposely twitched his wing, causing Silver to jump.

"What's the diagnosis?" Skywarp asked in a solemn voice. "Am I going to live?"

Silver blinked in shock and leaned over Skywarp's wing. "Why you not live?" Panic was evident in his voice.

I shook my head and laughed. "He's perfectly fine, Silver." I reached over and patted him on the head. "That just means he wants to know what you think."

"That weird way of asking." Silver relaxed his hold. "Umm…I think he have pretty wings!"

Skywarp smiled a huge, proud smile. "Can't argue with that."

Silver looked over at me. "TC has pretty wings too."

"Thanks, Silver."

Silver moved around Skywarp and sat between us. There was sadness on his face and I knew what he was thinking.

"Hey, now…remember what we talked about?" I placed a finger under his chin and lifted his head.

Silver nodded. "That I not have to be the same?"

"That's right."

Silver understood what I had told him the other day but it seemed that being different still haunted him. As Silver sat there quietly, I had a quick mental conversation with Skywarp about how to handle the situation. We both agreed that we'd reinforce the fact being different was a good thing.

Skywarp spoke up. "You okay, Silver?"

"I okay."

"Are you going to be able to go out and have fun?"

Silver's mood brightened. "Yes! I want to go fly and see humans!"

"Then that's what we're going to do!" Skywarp rolled off the berth.

"Did you rest well?" I asked Silver again now that he was paying attention.

He scooted over to me. "Yeah, you nice and warm."

"You too." I answered.

I felt no need to recap the morning's events with him. The light and warmth from his body was a curious thing but I didn't feel threatened. Silver was apparently unaware that something had happened; maybe it was a natural thing for him. I decided I could wait a while before worrying about it.

Silver slid off the berth, took my hand and tugged for me to get up. I obliged and let him lead me over to Skywarp.

"I guess this means you'd like to leave right now?" I looked down at Silver.

"Can we?" He looked up expectantly at me.

I nodded "Of course."

Silver proved to have a wonderful memory on direction and led us directly to the docking lift. It answered my thoughts on how he kept finding his way back to Lighthand. There were a few Decepticons stacking containers close to the lift. One raised his head and glanced at Silver.

"What they doing?" Silver was heading to check them out when I reached over and stopped him. His fearless curiosity was going to keep me on my toes.

Silver's onlooker shook his head and laughed before getting back to his task. I imagined him to be thinking he was thankful _he_ wasn't the one with a sparkling.

Ignoring the spectator, I looked down to Silver. "They're getting those ready to take back to Cybertron."

"Really? What in them?"

I released my hold on him and thankfully he stayed put. "They're empty right now. We take them back and fill them with supplies."

"That's the boring job." Skywarp added.

I sighed. "Yes, but it is a necessary job."

After Silver's moment of interest faded we proceeded into the lift. When the docking bay doors opened we were greeted with the pastel hues of sunrise. Silver was speechless. Cybertron didn't have sunrise or sunset and this shock of colors in the sky and reflecting off the water was new to him.

"You like that?" I picked him up.

Silver nodded, fixated on the colors.

"That usually happens every day…twice as a matter of fact."

"Really?" Silver's optics widened.

"Yes, once in the morning and once in the evening." I explained.

"Earth is a weird place, Silver." Skywarp added. "It changes colors all the time!" He then told Silver about the basic, obvious differences between day and night.

Silver listened to him patiently trying to absorb what he was told. "It all so much. But it all so pretty!"

Unlike us, Silver didn't have any prejudice against this planet. To him it was a fun new place. Maybe he'd help us lighten up on our Earth views…maybe.

"Ready to fly again?" I asked.

Silver tore his gaze away from the sky. "Yes!" He gripped me tightly.

Skywarp and I leapt from the platform and lifted into the sky, Silver was all smiles. I thought it would be fun to show him some nature first. There was a forest a short distance away and we headed for it. The humans could come after that. I knew early morning wasn't their best time to be out and about. It would be much more entertaining to show Silver a busy city later in the day.

The ocean quickly disappeared into land below us and Silver twisted his body to get a better look. He wasn't afraid in my arms and I helped him rotate so he could see. He laughed and threw his arms to the wind when I held him right below me in a flying position.

Skywarp flew next to him. "You're a great flier!"

"Really?!" Silver reached towards Skywarp. "I fly with you?"

"You want to fly with me?" Skywarp sounded surprised.

"Uh-huh! As long as you not drop me!"

"You can be sure of that! Mind if I take him, TC?" Skywarp asked.

"Not at all." I replied.

Skywarp rolled onto his back and flew below Silver. "You ready?" He held up his arms.

"Uh, 'Warp?"

"Yeah, TC?"

"You're expecting me to just drop him into your arms?"

"You don't think I'll catch him?" Skywarp sounded offended.

I let out a weary sigh. "No it's not that… it's just… well… is it a good idea?"

Silver spoke up cheerily, confidently. "Skywarp not drop me, TC! He catch me!"

"He's not afraid." Skywarp said gently. "I'll catch him."

Slowly and reluctantly I released my safe hold on Silver. It was only a few feet until he arrived in Skywarp's open arms. During that brief moment of free-fall Silver squealed in delight.

"I fly!" Silver hugged Skywarp.

I laughed nervously even though he was safe. "I think you're a born natural."

Skywarp smiled. _'Thanks for trusting me, TC. You know, it's okay to be protective.' _He thought at me.

I thought back to him_. 'I know. Just stop me if you think I go overboard.''_

'_Fears of him falling to his death can hardly be considered overboard.' _Skywarp winked. He brought his attention back to Silver "Want to do some loops?"

"Yeah!" Silver answered excitedly.

Skywarp gracefully did a backwards dive away from me. I could hear Silver scream, then giggle. They twisted and spun together in the morning sky until we were over a forested mountain.

"Let's set down there." I pointed.

"Beat you to the ground!" Skywarp dove.

I sped up and followed. Silver enjoyed our little play-race and proudly announced Skywarp as the winner as he landed first.

"That lots of fun!"

"Yes it was, Silver." Skywarp set him on the moist ground.

"I not need wings to fly." Silver smiled and looked around at his new surroundings.

The early rays of the sun were streaming through the trees. Everything around was damp and soft. Silver lifted his leg and examined the fresh dirt stuck in the creases in the bottom of his foot. He scooped some out with his finger and brought it close to his optics.

I took a preemptive measure. "Whatever you do, don't try to eat it."

"Eat it?" Silver rubbed the dirt between his fingers. "Not look good to eat."

"It's not, it tastes icky." Skywarp screwed up his face. "I didn't really want to eat it; it was just a bad landing." He laughed at himself.

I couldn't help chuckling at him. "That stuff is called dirt. It's one of the many types of ground Earth has." I told Silver.

Silver crouched down, scooped up a handful and let it sift through his fingers. "It feel funny."

I crouched next to him. "Before you get too interested in this one section of dirt, let's have a look around."

Silver nodded and stood. His next focus was on an exceptionally tall, thick pine tree and he bounded over to it. He looked up and down its trunk in wonder and ran his whole hand along it to feel the rough bark.

"Wow, it bigger than you!" Silver called back to us.

Skywarp headed over to Silver. "Would you believe me if I told you it was living?"

"Really?" Silver looked up into the branches. "Can it talk?"

"Nope." Skywarp shook his head. "It's not an intelligent form of life."

Silver circled the trunk as he studied it. "Smell good."

Skywarp took a moment to analyze the air. "Hmmm… yeah, it's not too bad. I never really paid attention to it."

"What it called?"

"That's a tree." Skywarp answered.

"Tree?" Silver repeated. "There so many of them."

Skywarp lifted Silver up so he could see the branches and explained further. "Lots of trees together like this is called a forest."

"I like forest." Silver tugged at a pinecone and cringed when a handful of dry pine-needles showered over him.

I walked over and joined them. "Careful there…" I brushed Silver off. "You don't want a big piece of the tree to come down and hurt you."

Silver looked somewhat embarrassed. "No."

"No harm done." I lifted him from Skywarp and set him on the ground again. "Come on, there's more to see."

We spent a few hours letting Silver roam and explore. He took such delight in the simple things Earth had to offer. He touched every new surface he came across, including putting his hand directly into a large lump of sticky sap. He thought it was funny until it began to dry on his small joints. I had to calm him down and assure him we'd be able to clean it off when we got home.

As soon as he saw them, Silver enjoyed watching various small furry animals scamper about. He decided to chase them around; most were smart enough to hide. It became a game for him to make them duck into their underground holes, wait patiently for them to come out and then chase them again. His game abruptly ended when he was chasing a fluffy tailed critter across a shallow, muddy stream. He slipped on a moss covered rock and went face down with a splash.

I was quickly at his side lifting him up. "You okay?"

Skywarp couldn't restrain a giggle while watching large amounts of muck drip off Silver's body. I shot him a glare and he quieted down.

Silver blinked rapidly and tried to wipe the thick mud away. "Can't see! Want it off!"

"Hold on, hold on…" I placed Silver in a sitting position on the dry ground.

"Ohhh….not like." He continued unsuccessfully to try to wipe the mud away.

There was no deep source of clean water around so I scooped up what I could from the stream and dribbled it across his face. He spit furiously as it leaked into his mouth.

"You're going to have to hold still for me." I gathered some more water.

"Not taste good!" Silver wiped at his mouth.

Skywarp chuckled again. "Remember TC told you not to eat it."

Silver looked extremely unhappy. "I not want to eat it!" He continued wiping at his face.

"Hold still, Silver." Gently restraining Silver's hands with one of mine, I turned my attention to Skywarp. "It's really not that funny." I scolded him.

Skywarp stared at me. "Aw come on, he's fine."

I knew he meant no harm. Silver_ did_ look like a comical mud-ball, but Skywarp was going to have to learn that some things couldn't be laughed at right away

"_You_ think it's that funny? Then _you_ can clean him off later."

Skywarp went silent. "Uh… I'll just shut up now."

"Good idea." I went back to rinsing and wiping the rest of the mud from Silver's optics. "There, is that better?"

Silver nodded. "Yeah it better." He looked down at his mud-caked body and sighed. "Uh…not all better."

"It's okay." I patted his helm. "It's just wet dirt, and it will come right off later."

"It getting dry." Silver brought his fingers up to his face. "Dry dirt not feel good."

Skywarp sat down next to him. "That's the big reason I can't stand Earth dirt. It makes everything feel all scratchy."

Silver hung his head. "I be more careful."

"Aww, Silver…don't be so sad. You didn't do anything wrong." Skywarp picked Silver up and placed him in his lap. "Earth's got a lot of slippery surfaces. You'll learn how to handle them."

"Want to learn…and not eat dirt." Silver said quietly.

Skywarp grinned. "I can promise that you'll learn. But I can't promise that you won't eat more dirt while learning."

Both of them laughed. Skywarp had a gift for cheering people up fast. That talent was working in all three of our benefits.

I checked my chronometer. "If both of you are ready, I think now is a good time to go see some humans."

Silver jumped up excitedly from Skywarp's lap, forgetting all about his muddy predicament. "Really?"

I nodded and scooped him up. "There's going to be lots of them out right now."

Skywarp hoisted himself off the ground. "That sounds good to me, TC. I can only stand so much out here."

Silver looked over at him. "Why? It fun."

"Fun? Even with all that dirt on you?" Skywarp poked at his dirty chassis.

"Uh-huh! It not happen on purpose."

Skywarp smiled a small, thoughtful smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Lifting off through the trees and into the open sky we headed inland. There was a fairly large human city within a half hours flight. I imagined if Silver enjoyed the small ground animals, he was going to love watching the humans. It was definitely going to be fun.

* * *

**A/N:** I decided to cut this chapter into two parts since I'm still arranging some ideas for the second half. Thanks for the reads, it's much appreciated. I think I shall be doing a new picture for this soon, so check with my Profile/Bio for updates.

If there are any major typo's or in this please let me know. I can only catch so many of my little issues no matter how many times I read it over.


	6. Outings: Part 2

Outings: Part 2

During our short flight from the forest, Silver couldn't tear his gaze away from the ever changing scenery on the ground. The towering green mountains turned into flat multicolored surfaces with paved roads and sparse sections of population. I took some time to explain to Silver that most of the small squares clumped together on the ground were houses, and that was what humans lived in. The amount of houses below became denser and soon the city was on the horizon. It wasn't a huge metropolis, but there were enough tall buildings to break the skyline.

Silver pointed excitedly. "That where we're going?"

I nodded, even though he wasn't looking at me. "Yeah, that's the city."

"It looks like Cybertron!" he exclaimed happily.

Skywarp snorted out a laugh, "Cybertron? No comparison!"

"Huh? Why not?"

Disbelief settled on Skywarp's face. "It just…doesn't."

I could tell he was doing his best not to say something nasty about human built cities. He found them exceptionally inferior to those on Cybertron.

"They both have big buildings," Silver continued his innocent comparison.

"That doesn't mean they're _anything_ like-" Skywarp snapped, caught his own tone and shut his mouth.

Silver remained persistent on the subject. "Not same but-"

I gently interrupted him, "Silver, we understand what you mean."

"What wrong? Why he mad at me?" He craned his neck and looked over at Skywarp who had distanced himself.

I placed my hand on his cheek and turned his face up towards me. "Skywarp's not mad at you. He's just… not too fond of living here and doesn't like to compare it to a place he loves."

Silver didn't get my hint that he should stop pressing the subject. "He can go visit."

"I know, but he's still not happy about it." I was trying to offer him a very simple explanation

Silver didn't understand. "But if he sees home a lot…"

"Silver!" I said sternly. "Do you want to make him mad at you?"

Silver stared sadly at me and kept quiet. I knew the time would eventually come when I would have to explain what brought us to Earth in the first place and why we were truly so unhappy about it. He was far too young right now for a complicated history lesson.

The rest of our flight was silent. We landed near a large industrial complex since it would cause less commotion then landing in the city. The few humans around fled into the buildings when they saw us. It was an unavoidable, yet amusing event. Silver squirmed, eager to be released from my hold. I set him on the ground and was going to give him warnings about being careful around humans but didn't get the chance. As soon as I released my hold on him he bolted under a low overhang and into the nearest door.

"Silver!" I yelled after him, "where are you going?!"

The fated door Silver had chosen to run through was made of glass. I cringed as I watched him crash right through it as he tried to push it open. He was teaching himself a lesson the hard way; Earth made materials weren't as strong as those on Cybertron. Fragile glass doors were not meant to accompany a half ton of force.

"Come back!" Skywarp stepped towards the door. "What'd he do that for?"

I sighed deeply and said, "He did it because he's over-sensitive to us."

Skywarp got down on his hands and knees and peeked through the shattered door. There were screams from inside. It was easy to imagine the terrified humans as an unidentifiable, mostly human-sized form crashed through their office.

"Well… there he goes. Down a hall and around a corner..." Skywarp looked up at me. "How about checking if there's a back door?"

I nodded, "Good idea."

As I headed around the office I heard a fresh batch of screams, followed by laughter from Skywarp. The humans must have tried to run through the front door to get away from Silver and encountered Skywarp's face. I reached the back of the building and there was no sign of Silver. Following Skywarp's lead I crouched down at a back door and peered inside. The humans that Skywarp had scared from the front were coming to make their escape out the back. They screamed again when they saw me. As concerned as I was about Silver, I couldn't help but laugh. Humans were amusing.

'_Any sign of him?'_ Skywarp thought to me.

'_Unfortunately no,'_ I squinted through the doors, '_it's not that big in there though.'_

'_Yeah, I can see that.'_

'_I'm coming back over. I don't think he's going to be coming out this way.' _I stood up and walked back around the building. I shook my head and chuckled when I heard the back door open and the shuffling of many feet. I decided to let the humans flee; they would be no help with Silver.

Skywarp was still looking through the broken glass. "I'm sorry, TC. I didn't expect him to react this way."

"I know what you mean." I thought of his recent reaction after me yelling at Skywarp for the paint gun. "Guess we'll learn…eventually."

"I still don't see any sign of him, just his dirt trail leading into one of the rooms." Skywarp moved up into a sitting position. "So…do we just sit, call and hope he comes out?"

I sat down next to him. "We can start with that."

"Silver?" Skywarp called out loudly but gently. "Please come on out of there, we're not mad at you."

We sat quietly, listening for movement. There was no response.

"Silver?" Skywarp called again. "I'm really sorry if I upset you. I didn't mean it."

"We both just want you to come out," I pleaded. "Please?"

"I don't think this is working." A tinge of sadness was evident in Skywarp's voice

"Maybe he can't hear us." I leaned over to look in the door again, "Silver?"

Skywarp leaned his back against the building. "Oh, I think he can hear us. He's probably just tuning us out."

"Takes after you." I managed a small smile.

"I could say the same thing about you." Skywarp chuckled.

After fifteen minutes of calling out to Silver we decided to quiet down and wait. Neither of us was going to be able to force him to come out of the building. I got up and took another walk around. I didn't find any windows to provide me with more insight to his location. Giving up for the time, I went back to Skywarp and sat again.

"So, "said Skywarp, "do you have any other suggestions? Or should we start taking the building apart piece by piece?"

Not knowing what to say, I began to laugh.

Skywarp shot me a questioning look. "What's so funny?"

"This whole thing," I laughed harder, "it's just not how I expected the day to go."

"It's isn't?" Skywarp began to grin again.

I laughed for a good long time at our predicament, although it truly wasn't funny. This morning was fresh, new, and promising. The only hook-ups in our perfect little day were pine needles, sap, mud, thick glass shards, and an office building. I never figured those items would cause _this_ big a deal. As a whole, I knew minor dirt articles weren't the problem. Silver was very sensitive to us and took most of what we said and did literally. Both Skywarp and I weren't used to that sort of behavior.

Skywarp interrupted my laughing fit, "Hey, don't hurt yourself now. I don't want to carry _both_ of you home."

I managed to calm myself down with only a few giggles here and there. "Yeah, yeah… I know. But look at the bright side," I forced an over cheerful tone, "things can't get any worse."

"You're absolutely ri-" Skywarp silenced himself in mid sentence. He fixated his gaze on something past me.

"What's up?" I quickly turned to see what he was looking at. I wasn't too surprised when I saw what caught his attention.

About fifty yards away a conspicuous, familiar, rounded yellow car rolled to a stop. I recognized it as the Autobot called Bumblebee. He appeared to be alone, aside from the young human in the driver's seat. They were observing us no doubt.

Skywarp stood and automatically raised his arm-mounted rifles. "Why is it, no matter what,_ they_ show up?"

"I have no idea," I growled and stood.

"Should be easy to take those two out."

"Should be, yes, but where there's one," I scanned the area, "there's usually backup."

Skywarp was focused. "I'm willing to take that chance."

"We can't risk an all out fight right now."

Disappointment sounded in Skywarp's voice. "Are you saying we just ignore them?"

"Of course not! Actually… I have an idea."

Skywarp raised an optic ridge. "An idea?"

"Yes. You're going to have to lower your weapons."

"What?!"

"You're going to have to trust me," I said softly, "and hope it works."

'_This idea had better be good to rob me of a fight,' _Skywarp thought sourly at me. He slowly lowered his arms.

I thought back, _'It is, and it's really simple.' _

'_Do share.'_

'_Well,' _I continued_, 'Autobots have a reputation of being quite helpful, right?'_

'_Yeah, so?' _

'_If we're not hostile, and in need, he's the right size to be helpful to us.'_

Hesitantly, Skywarp thought back,_ 'You're implying we act all nice and make him go get Silver?'_

'_Exactly!' _

Skywarp turned and stared a blank stare at me_. 'Since when do we have a reputation of being nice to Autobots?'_

'_Uh, since right now?' _I thought back to him.

'_You're going to have to be the one do to it, TC. You're restraint is better than mine.'_

'_I'm going to get this out of the way as fast as possible.' _

'_Good luck.' _Skywarp gave me a pat on the back.

I honestly didn't want to deal with an Autobot at all. It was unfortunately the simplest solution. Sucking up my pride, I called out, "Hi! Can you help us out?"

Skywarp snickered. _'You weren't kidding on getting right down to business,' _he thought amusedly at me.

Both of us watched the yellow car; there was no immediate reaction.

"Uh, hello?" I called out again. "We're not going to try to kill you."

I watched the human in the driver's seat; he was conversing with the car. Both of them were probably trying to determine the threat level. I couldn't say I blamed them. They were used to expecting a fight, not a plea for help.

"I'm serious about us not giving trouble," I yelled. "Our..." I knew this was going to sound ridiculous to them but I went with it anyways, "…sparkling ran in there and we can't get him to come out."

Bumblebee and his passenger continued to talk. Finally, after what seemed forever the human stepped out. Bumble transformed into his robot form and took an expected, protective stance in front of the human. He narrowed his eyes and said, "A sparkling? You're joking."

"No, I'm not," I replied. "Can you come over here so we can…talk?" I was trying not to sound forced.

"Why should I believe you?" He sounded cautious.

"Uh…well…" I realized I didn't have an immediate answer.

Skywarp broke his silence when I hesitated. "Why would he make up something like that?"

"You're Decepticons," Bumblebee stated.

Skywarp feigned a shocked expression at the obvious statement. "Thank you for pointing that out," he said sarcastically. "Tell us something we don't know."

I elbowed Skywarp in the side. _''Warp,'_ I thought at him, _'don't start an argument. I know it's annoying but we really need his help._'

Skywarp shrugged. _'Sorry. Some habits aren't breakable.'_

I turned my attention back to Bumblebee. "Listen, asking for your help isn't something we're excited about doing. It's just something that needs to be done." I took a few steps away from the building. "We don't have many options of getting into that building without tearing it down.

"The fact that we_ haven't _torn it down should be reason to at least listen to us," said Skywarp.

Bumblebee looked thoughtfully at us. "You said you needed to get in there because of a sparkling?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"There were reports of a small robot…"

"Reports?" Skywarp huffed.

Bumblebee took a few steps closer. "More like word of mouth."

"I'll bet this swift word of mouth also said we were terrorizing the building, yes?" Skywarp shifted his weight.

"Yes, something like that." Bumblebee stopped walking. "Why would there be a sparkling in there."

I sighed and knew I had to give him an explanation. "Simple story; he thought we were mad at him and ran to hide in there." I pointed at the shattered glass.

Bumblebee stared and raised an optic ridge. "That's it? There's nothing more to it?"

"Nope," said Skywarp, "Thundercracker's summed it up quite well."

Bumblebee couldn't hide his interest in our sparkling situation. We weren't giving him the story of our lives, but he was attentive. As we small talked he continued to move closer to us. His human companion was silent and followed close behind.

"Why did the sparkling think you were mad at him?" asked Bumblebee.

"It was just a communication misunderstanding." I answered.

The human decided to speak up. "Hey, Bumblebee, what's a sparkling?"

"Well, Spike, you can think of a sparkling sort of like a human child." Bumblebee explained.

The human, Spike, looked confused. "A child?" He scratched his head. "I didn't know robots had children."

"It's nothing like your human reproduction I assure you." Bumblebee shook his head and smiled at Spike. "But I would imagine the parenting part would be about the same." It was when he realized that he had arrived next to us a look of surprise overtook him.

"Calm down," I said. "I told you we won't hurt you."

Skywarp relaxed his demeanor. "This has nothing to do with anybody else but us. So don't get all worry-like about reinforcements or something."

Bumblebee looked around to assure himself of what we both just said. "If all is as simple as you say, then there should be no problems."

"Shouldn't be," I mumbled.

"So, what's his name?" Bumblebee asked.

"Silver," I answered.

"I guess I don't have to ask what he looks like to find him." Bumblebee laughed. "He should be the only one in there."

"He'll be easy to find too." Skywarp pointed at the caked mud on the floor. "Just follow that."

Bumblebee looked at the mud, then back up at us. "Been through a lot today?'

Skywarp shook his head. "Not really, just some nature."

Looking back at the dirt trail, Bumblebee walked to the shattered door. "Well, I'll go take a look." He stepped inside the building.

"I'm going with you." Spike was following close behind."

I leaned over to watch the human and Autobot start their search of the various offices. Within a few minutes they had thoroughly checked the nearest rooms and moved further into the building and out of our sight.

Skywarp started to laugh. "TC, this is funny."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, I mean, we've enlisted the help of an Autobot."

I smiled and said, "We had no choice."

Skywarp lowered his voice. "You know I'd still rather _not_ be dealing with him."

I moved close and whispered, "Don't think of this as us asking for help. Think of it as us _using_ him because he was convenient."

"I like it!" Skywarp laughed harder.

I wasn't keeping track of how much time passed when Bumblebee came out of the building alone and empty-handed. Panic gripped my spark. Why wasn't Silver with him? Did he run away when we were asking for help?

"Did you find him?" I tried to keep my voice level.

Bumblebee smiled up at me. "Yes, we did find him," he said, "you can calm down."

"Where is he? Is he okay? He's not hurt, is he?" Even with the good news I was still panicky over Silver's well being.

Skywarp thought to me, _'TC, take it easy.'_

'_It's hard to take it easy when I had no clue I was this worried in the first place.'_

Skywarp reached up and rubbed my back in a comforting manner. He looked down at Bumblebee and said, "Where's your human friend? Is he in there with Silver?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact he is."

"So…can you tell us what's up?" Skywarp asked.

Bumblebee nodded and leaned against the wall. "It was pretty easy to find him. We followed the dirt to a small back office and right into a storage closet."

My panic subsided and curiosity emerged as I asked, "A storage closet?"

"He was hiding in it," said Bumblebee. "Actually, he had tucked himself in, closed the door and fell into recharge."

"He was in recharge?" Skywarp laughed. "I guess that'd explain why he wasn't answering us."

It made me feel better to know there was a logical reason for Silver's silence. "Is he awake now?"

Bumblebee nodded vigorously. "Indeed he is."

Skywarp leaned down to look around Bumblebee and through the door. "Why isn't he coming out?"

Bumblebee stepped to the side to put some space between himself and Skywarp. "Spike is talking to him."

"Silver's never been around humans," I said.

"Oh, really? He did seem surprised when this one didn't run away."

Skywarp sat on the ground again. "When are they coming out?" he asked with unmasked impatience.

Bumblebee shrugged. "I don't know."

"You said Spike was talking to him?" I asked.

"Yes." Bumblebee nodded.

"Is he saying much?" A strange jealously came over to me. The thought of Silver opening up to a human was bothersome.

"Not too much, no." Bumblebee shook his head. "I think Spike understands what's happening though and is trying to help him out. After all, he does have a parent and can relate better than me."

"I hadn't thought of that." I was relieved to hear Silver was small talking.

Skywarp leaned back on his hands and looked up at me_. 'Strange how it all plays out,'_ he thought. _'I was the one that suggested asking a human on parenting tips.'_

'_You were joking at the time.'_

'_Like that matters?'_ He winked at me.

'_Oh, I suppose not.' _I noticed Bumblebee staring at us. Our unspoken communication was probably bothering him. "I hope they resolve soon."

Skywarp, Bumblebee, and I lightly chatted while we waited. Our situation was still quite awkward, but I was truly glad to have help. After a long tedious hour, there was movement inside the building. Spike was the first to exit. He had a large smile on his face.

"He's cute," said Spike as he walked over to Bumblebee. "He sort of reminds me of a cousin I have Quiet, but cute."

Another set of footsteps was heard and Silver came into view. He walked slowly and had his head down. The late afternoon sun reflected off the glass shards embedded in various parts of his body.

"Hey…" I crouched down.

Silver continued walking until he was directly in front of me. He kept his optics locked on the ground. I couldn't tell if he was depressed or maybe even embarrassed about recent events

"You okay?" I reached out and gently brushed a piece of glass off his helm.

Silver nodded.

"Are you hurting at all?"

Silver spoke quietly, "Stings."

"We'll get you all fixed up when we get home." I rubbed his back lightly. "Now, go on over to Skywarp."

Never looking up, Silver turned and made his way over to Skywarp. Since he was still sitting, Skywarp leaned over to be as level as he could with Silver. Neither said a word as Skywarp began to carefully pick out more exposed glass.

I turned back to Bumblebee and Spike. "Um, I guess we'll be on our way now."

Bumblebee looked disappointed. "Oh…okay."

"I'm sorry, it's just better if we get him home. I…really do appreciate your help."

"Oh?" Bumblebee's optics lit up. Apparently he wasn't expecting a 'thank you'. "You're welcome! Thanks for keeping your promise not to kill us." He grinned.

I laughed. "Please don't tell anyone and we'll do the same."

"You've got my word," Bumblebee said proudly.

Skywarp looked over at us and mumbled, "Thank you."

"It was really neat to meet him," said Spike. "I still have so much to learn about all of you."

Bumblebee transformed back into a yellow car and opened his door for Spike to get in. "Yes you do, but I feel the same way about humans."

The car door closed and I watched them drive off. I would keep my word and not admit we had a good day with an Autobot to anybody at the base. Although there was calm to the storm, nobody was yet ready to consider friendships or mutual agreements. I was proud of Skywarp for staying calm and prouder yet he showed he was grateful in his own way.

I watched until the car disappeared completely from sight before joining Skywarp and Silver. "Are you ready to go home for now?" I asked softly.

Skywarp was picking the last of the larger bits of glass out. "I think we are."

I noticed Silver still had his head hung low. "It's nearly evening anyways," I said. "Getting him all cleaned up and taking it easy sounds good."

Skywarp nodded, took Silver in his arms, and stood up. "Yes it does."

"Then let's go home." I was preparing to take to the sky when a thought struck. "We'll be just in time for the sunset."

Silver raised his head and he couldn't hide his interest. "Sunset?" Silver asked. "That the pretty colors?"

"Yes, that's right." I smiled. "The ones that mean the day is done."

A small smile spread across Silver's face and he let himself relax against Skywarp. I was glad to see him cheering up. His moods were swift, but not forgotten.

"Let's go!" Skywarp fired his thrusters and took to the sky.

"I'm right behind you!" I called and followed after them.

The evening wind was refreshing as we flew. Once again, the land turned into ocean as we approached our home. The sky was burning deep hues of orange and red when we landed on the platform. Silver was in a better mood, but still a bit quiet. He was content to be held and enjoy one of the good, harmless things that nature had to offer. As soon as the sun disappeared and the rich colors started to fade into shades of blue, we stepped into the lift and went inside.

When our descent came to an end we headed towards the med-bay. There we would find everything we needed to finish picking debris from Silver. I was worried about him and why he seemed so tired. After all, he had a good long recharge last night. Maybe it was normal for a sparkling to expend their energy faster? Then again, it could be caused by the day's stress.

I pushed my worries aside when Skywarp and I entered the med-bay. It was mostly empty aside from Hook, the medic on duty. He was busy meticulously putting away various tools and parts. We chose to ignore him and went to the furthest examination table. Skywarp set Silver on the table and went rummaging in a nearby drawer. I stayed by Silver's side.

"You feel okay?" I asked.

Silver nodded.

"You sure?"

He looked up at me with a small smile. "Yeah, okay. Still stingy."

"That'll be fixed up soon." I hoisted myself up and sat next to him.

Although we initially ignored Hook, he didn't ignore us and took it upon himself to come over and investigate. He walked over to Skywarp, put his hands on his hips and glared.

"And you're doing _what _exactly?" Hook asked.

"Huh?" Skywarp turned quickly. "I'm just… looking for…" He looked back down into the drawer. "Something that's not in here."

Hook raised an optic ridge. "Considering this is_ my_ facility, it only makes sense that you wouldn't know where to look for whatever-it-is that you're looking for."

"Ah, makes complete sense!" Skywarp feigned enlightenment. "That being the case, will you help me find what I'm looking for?"

Hook shook his head. "No. First you tell me why you're messing up my tools."

Skywarp casually closed the drawer his was digging in without making an attempt to straighten it out and leaned against a counter. "Fine." He stated. "I just need something that's good to pick out glass and dirt."

"Glass and dirt?"

"Yeah." Skywarp nodded.

"I am to assume it's not for you?" Hook said as he looked Skywarp over.

"You are correct."

Hook turned to me since I was the next obvious person and started to look me over. He froze when he noticed Silver. Silver cringed and scooted closer to me.

"Where did he come from?" There was a trace amount of surprise in his voice.

"Cyberton," I said.

Hook leaned in close to scrutinize Silver, who had dug his face into my side. "That's obvious. How long have you had him?"

I answered, "Only two days.

"Two days? That would explain why I wasn't aware of him."

"He doesn't need to be public," Skywarp said. "He's nobody else's business."

Hook moved away from Silver and locked optics with Skywarp. "Then you're telling me that he's yours?" Apparently imagining any of us with a sparkling was hard.

Skywarp crossed his arms and looked offended. "Yes, he's ours. We haven't sunk so low as to abduct and terrorize guardian-less sparklings."

"I would hope not," Hook mumbled.

I put a protective arm around Silver. "Listen, it has been a really long day. All we want is to get him cleaned up."

"Then we'll be off on our merry way and leave you alone," Skywarp added.

Hooked looked over the three of us. "Neither of you are going to touch my tools."

Skywarp was about to protest when Hook went to a nearby drawer and pulled out a small medical kit. "As long as you're here, I'm going to do _my_ job."

"You don't think we can handle it?" Skywarp asked.

With no hesitation, Hook answered, "No." He came over and opened the kit on the table. Inside were various sized forceps and tweezers.

Silver pulled closer to me. "Not want him to hurt me."

"He's not going to hurt you. All he's going to do is pull those stingy pieces out of you."

Slowly lifting his head, Silver peeked over at the shiny instruments and shrank back down. "Those look scary."

"Those won't hurt you," I assured him again. "You'll have to let go of me though."

Silver shook his head.

I rubbed his back a moment, lifted him up and sat him next to me. "I'm right here with you."

Silver didn't look happy at being moved. He reached over and tightly took my hand.

"Okay, Hook, this is as ready as he'll be." I said.

Hook took a delicate pair of forceps in one hand and Silver's chin in the other. His grip was firm as he examined and plucked glass from the soft metal of Silver's face. Hook is not one for small talk but is an amazing medic, sometimes to the point of over-perfection. He moved slowly and carefully all over Silver's body, who sat dead still, taking out each and every piece of irritating debris. It took over an hour for him to finish.

Setting down his equipment, Hook looked up at me. "I'm sure that's all of it."

Skywarp had made himself comfortable next to me. "Thanks."

"I'm not going to ask what you did to get him in this condition," Hook said. "If you don't want him a part of anyone else's business, then I suggest you keep a tighter watch on him."

"What _we_ did?" Skywarp was on his feet.

Casually putting his tools away, Hook spoke over his shoulder, "I said I wasn't asking. He's taken care of and you're supposed to be going on your 'merry way'."

I slid off the table and lifted Silver into my arms. "Thanks, Hook. You did a great job." I looked over at Skywarp. "Let's go."

Skywarp narrowed his eyes at Hook, turned and followed me out. He restrained himself from yelling that Silver's mess was not due to negligence. I too was offended by the assumption, but didn't need an argument.

Our next destination was to a small, private room that was equipped for cleaning. There was a bench situated in the middle of the room with a drain right below. Above the bench was access to various hoses, cleaning fluids, lubricants, and polishes.

I set Silver on the bench and he looked up at me nervously. "Hey, don't worry. There's nothing scary in here."

"You do want all that nasty mud off, right?" Skywarp lightly poked at Silver's chest.

Silver nodded. "Yeah, it itchy."

I leaned down close to him. "I think you might enjoy this."

"Really?" Silver's optics brightened slightly.

Skywarp smiled and added, "Yeah, it'll feel good."

"Feel good is better than itchy," Silver agreed.

"Yes it is." I reached up and grabbed one of the hoses. "Just sit, relax, and enjoy."

Both Skywarp and I worked together to clean Silver off. We first rinsed him off with a warm solution to loosen the caked mud. There was more on him than we thought as we watched the dark muck slide down the drain. I changed hoses after the rinse to one with a small fine tip and adjustable pressure. This one made Silver giggle as we used it to get all the dirt and sap out from his delicate joints. Next we used some cloth and cleaner to rub down his outer armor; he continued to giggle at us. The final rinse took off all the rest of the dirt. Skywarp and I took our time drying and polishing his body. When we were done, both of us were quite surprised. Neither of us had considered that Silver might not have had a good bath before. He was incredibly beautiful. There were subtle color shifts that weren't noticeable before.

"Uh oh," Skywarp looked Silver over, "I might have competition here." He grinned.

"It is a close call." I laughed.

"Huh? What he talking about?" asked Silver.

"He's just saying that you're very pretty all cleaned up." I answered.

Silver looked embarrassed. "I pretty?"

I nodded. "Yes, very."

"I never been cleaned like that." Silver examined his hands.

"Never?" Skywarp raised an optic ridge. "Not even by Lighthand?"

Silver shook his head. "Not have anything like this."

"Ah, okay." Skywarp smiled. "That's too bad. But from now on you'll be able to get clean whenever you want."

"Thank you!" Silver leaned over and hugged Skywarp.

"You're welcome." Skywarp returned the hug.

I put away all our cleaning cloths and turned back to them. "Now that everybody is all happy again, how about going to our quarters and taking it easy the rest of the night?"

"Sounds like a really good idea, TC," said Skywarp.

Silver slid of the table and came over to me. "Can I play with stuff from Lighthand's?"

"The scrap metal?" I asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Yes, of course! Maybe we could play with you?"

Silver looked up at me with a wide smile on his face. "Really? You want to play with me?"

I scooped him up into my arms. "It sounds like fun."

The three of us arrived back at our quarters. I set Silver down and he ran over to the makeshift stack of furniture. He climbed up and looked at the portal.

I chuckled as I walked over to him. "I thought you wanted to play with your scraps."

"I do." Silver pressed his face to the glass. "Want to do this too."

"Tell me if you see anything good." I patted his back and retrieved the case he brought from Lighthand. "I'm going to put this right over here." I set it on a clear section of the floor.

While Silver was occupied at the window I joined Skywarp at the energon dispenser and helped myself to a cube. Due to Silver's lack of exciting reactions, I could tell there wasn't much happening at the bottom of the ocean tonight.

"Hey, Silver," Skywarp called. "Come on over and have some energon."

Silver obliged, climbed down and came over. Skywarp handed him a small cube.

It didn't take us long to guzzle and enjoy. We then went and sat ourselves around Silver's box. He opened it for us and pulled out various sized and shaped pieces of scrap.

"So what wonderful thing are we making tonight?" Skywarp picked up a long coiled piece of metal.

Silver shrugged. "Don't know. It just fun to put them all together."

"Works for me." Skywarp smiled and picked up a second piece to wind with the first.

"When it's all done, we can take a good look at it and _then_ figure out what it is." I offered.

Silver giggled. "That a good idea."

Tinkering with the scraps was relaxing. There was nothing that we were supposed to be making, or fixing. We just talked and laughed as we twisted and pieced things together. When there were no more pieces left we admired our construct with great humor. It resembled nothing at all. It was something the humans would call 'modern art'.

"I think we did a good job." Skywarp looked it over like an art critic.

"Yeah we did." I remained sitting.

"That was fun," said Silver as he crawled into my lap. "It neat looking."

"What do we do with it now?" I asked. "Do we leave it, or take it apart?"

Silver looked up at me. "Can we leave it?"

"I don't have a problem with it. We could find a shelf to put it on." I looked over to Skywarp. "What do you think 'Warp?"

"It's the best piece of art I've ever created." Skywarp winked. "Putting it on display would do it justice."

"That's what we'll do then." I gave Silver a hug. "Thank _you_ for letting us make that with you."

Silver returned my embrace. "It more fun together." He curled comfortably against me and relaxed.

"You tired?" I stroked his back.

"Yeah."

"Shall I put you to bed?" Silver nodded against me. "You going to be okay alone for a while?"

"Alone is okay," Silver mumbled. Recharge was overtaking him fast. "It okay since I know you close."

I stood, holding him securely. "Say good night to Skywarp."

"Night Sky."

"'Sky'? I like it." Skywarp grinned and wrapped an arm around him for a hug. "Good night, Silver."

I went to our berth, laid Silver down, and watched over him as he quickly went into recharge. There was no unusual light emanating from him. I moved close over him to see if it would appear and it did. It began small and dim, and then it created beautiful patterns as it spread and reflected off his body through his seams. Looking down at my chest, I noticed the light that came from me remained centralized. It brought a comforting feeling. I wasn't ready to rest for the night and wanted to curl up with Skywarp for a few hours. When I left Silver's side, the light faded away.

Re-entering the living area I saw Skywarp putting our new masterpiece on a shelf. "This a good place for it?" He asked.

"Perfect," I answered.

"I must admit, I did enjoy our activity."

"Me too. It was social, creative and relaxing. We'll have to do it again," I said as I took my mate's hand and dragged him over to the couch.

"We'll have plenty of time." Skywarp sank down with me. "I think we're going to need what the humans call a 'babysitter', right?"

"For some of our 'alone' time?" I grinned.

Skywarp nodded. "Yeah, exactly."

"That'd be nice, but there's nobody around here I'd trust."

"What about Lighthand?" Skywarp asked.

"Lighthand? Well…we could perhaps ask him."

"Let's contact him in the morning and find out. I'm not talking about long periods of time, TC, so no fretting."

"I'm not fretting, yet." I laughed. "But you're right; it'd be nice to know there would be somebody who'd be willing to look after him for a few hours."

"We'll find out tomorrow." Skywarp assured me.

Skywarp and I lay together for a few hours on the couch. We talked of the day and small personal behaviors we needed to watch. If another event came up similar to this one, we'd make sure to talk to Silver before he had a chance to get away from us. When we retired to the recharge berth for the night we positioned ourselves the same as the night before. Skywarp lay next to me, and I lay Silver on my chest. As I was expecting, the soft warm light lit up and lulled me into recharge.

* * *

**A/N:** It might be a bit before I get the next chapter up. I'm still working out some plot thingies. I appreciate the reads, and hope to keep this entertaining enough. Right now its just daily happenings.

I do have a few pictures for this story. The link to them can be found under my Profile/Bio if you'd like to check them out.

Added new chibi photo 8-5-08.


	7. It'll Take Time

It'll Take Time

Over our next few weeks together, Silver taught Skywarp and I that he was a constant learning experience. I'm not saying that in a bad way, but we knew getting the hang of being his guardians was going to take time; a lot of time. His young mind processed information very differently than ours and it was frustrating. There would be times when we'd explain something to him and he claimed to understand, then he'd surprise us by proving he had no idea what we were actually trying to explain in the first place. Repetition was…rough.

* * *

Silver isn't impervious to pain, but it never deterred him from a few failed engineering attempts. He was determined to stack himself a better perch for looking out the portal. Why, I didn't know. I think he just loved re-arranging the trunks, crates, and chair. The problem was he didn't view his lack of size and strength as an obstacle. We would offer to help him, and sometimes he'd let us. Most often he'd decline and insist he could do it on his own. At first we let him have his way, figuring he'd learn a lesson after a few tumbles. We were wrong and had to intervene before he really hurt himself. I had to nicely explain to him, more than once, that some things were out of his league. Silver listened, but never liked my answers. I didn't know why he was trying so hard to prove himself. Skywarp and I never made him feel incapable. I think he overheard various comments from other Decepticon's poking fun at us for being 'weak softies' and was trying in his own way to do something about it. He still didn't know when somebody was being literal or not.

* * *

Trust was something I never considered an issue. I took it for granted that Silver had full faith in us from the moment we decided to take him home. As fond as we were growing of him, Skywarp and I did want to spend some time alone together. I followed through in contacting Lighthand to ask if he'd be willing to look after Silver for a few hours on occasion. He was wary at first, but agreed to help out when he realized we weren't trying to disown Silver. We even set up a time. When that time came, the day started out just fine, but due to my lack of foresight of not sharing my plans with Silver, it became difficult.

"You looking forward to going to Cybertron today?" I asked Silver. "You haven't been in a while."

"Uh-huh! It going to be fun."

"I sure hope so. Would you like to go see Lighthand?"

A huge smile lit up his face as he nodded. "Yes, he nice to me!"

"I know he is, and he enjoys your company. Plus, he's got a lot of stuff for you to play with."

"Maybe he let us make something?" Silver asked cheerfully.

"You'll just have to ask him."

"Okay, I will!"

After that short conversation Silver busied himself in front of some cartoons, which he had taken fondly to, until it was time to go. When Skywarp and I were ready, we let him lead the way out of the base and onto the platform. Skywarp scooped him up and we took to the sky, making our way to the Space Bridge.

This was the first time the three of us had been back to Cybertron together and we chose to take the longer means and walk to Lighthand's. Silver impressed both of us by being able to find his way back. Maybe it shouldn't have surprised us too much since he did spend all of his short life here.

Skywarp felt the need to poke fun of Silver; he knew his playful sarcasm would be taken as serious. He pointed and said "Anytime I need to get someplace, I think I'll ask him. He could probably tell me how to get _everywhere_!"

Silver laughed. "I not know how to get everywhere."

"You don't?" Skywarp gasped, placed a hand over his mouth and went wide-eyed in mock shock.

"Nope." Silver shook his head.

"Then I'm gonna be in trouble if I need directions."

"One day I know how to get everywhere." Silver added with certainty. "You ask me then."

A ridiculously amused grin spread on Skywarp's face. "I'm sure you will." He reached down patted Silver's head.

I sighed. "Yes, he's definitely taking after you with that modesty."

We arrived at Lighthand's and I rang at the door. He wasn't long to respond since we were expected. Lighthand opened the door to greet us. He looked us over and offered a small, but warm smile.

"It's nice to see you again," Lighthand said as he stepped outside.

"Uh, you too." I answered. I wasn't used to somebody enjoying a third visit from me. "How are you?"

"Not bad, been busy." Lighthand cast his gaze down on Silver. "Hello, Silver."

Silver waved playfully. "Hi!"

"Come over here and let me take a look at you." Lighthand crouched down on one knee and waited for Silver, who obediently went to him. He looked Silver up and down and gave nobody in particular a nod of approval. "I see they've been taking good care of you."

"They really, really nice to me."

"It's wonderful to see you happy."

"I happy to be happy!" Silver wasn't shy about giving Lighthand a quick hug before coming back to me and latching onto my leg. "TC and Sky' make me happy."

I felt all warm and fuzzy to hear Silver say he was happy. The feeling didn't last long when I remembered that were going to leave him here. "Silver, 'Warp and I are going to…run some errands for a few hours."

"Okay." Silver kept his hold on my leg. He obviously assumed that meant him too.

"Um….it's just going to be the two of us. You're going to be staying here with Lighthand." I felt horribly guilty as Silver looked up at me. It occurred to me only then that maybe it would have been a better idea to make him aware of the situation ahead of time.

Silver's happy smile faded into confusion. "Why?" He asked quietly.

I had to think about that one for a moment. The answer itself was plain and simple; I wanted private time with my mate. I had a feeling that's not what Silver wanted to hear. I was going to go with it though, it was honest. "We just…want to spend a little time alone together."

Silver's confusion turned quickly to one of panic. "I make you mad?" he squeaked out.

"Mad?" I shook my head. "No, not at all." I reached down with the intent of picking him up but felt him tighten his hold on my leg and I withdrew my hands.

Silver went quiet, lowered his gaze, and rested his forehead against me. I was at a loss what to do. I knew he was comfortable with Lighthand to not fear being alone with him, and. he'd have things to play with for a few hours. Silver interrupted my thoughts by tightening his grip even more on my leg. I wasn't expecting what came next.

Looking back up at me with genuine despair, Silver broke his silence. "You not want me anymore," he stated softly, but firmly.

Without hesitation, Skywarp crouched down and went level with Silver. "What?!" He exclaimed.

Silver wasn't phased and turned his sorrowful face to Skywarp. "You going to leave me here."

"I promise it's only for a little while," Skywarp said in his best reassuring manner.

"No, it happen before."

"We're not going to leave you here," Skywarp insisted. He wrapped his hands around Silver's waist and tried to pick him up.

"Yes you will." Silver was clinging to my leg as if his life depended on it.

"No we won't." Skywarp let go of Silver's waist and moved to work on prying his arms loose.

"Yes you will." Silver didn't budge.

"No we won't," Skywarp repeated.

I sighed heavily and looked at Lighthand. He had a small grin on his face as he watched the scene in front of him. I could have sworn I heard a soft chuckle escape him as he shook his head. He turned to go back inside; leaving the situation to us.

"Silver," I said firmly to get his attention. He looked back up at me and continued to grip me tightly ignoring Skywarp's effort to remove him. "Please believe us; we're_ not_ going to leave you here."

A cry escaped Silver as Skywarp succeeded in pulling him from my leg. Silver stretched his arms out reaching for me but Skywarp kept a firm grip. I couldn't think of what to say to make things better, thankfully Skywarp took the situation into his own hands. He lifted Silver up, cradled him to his chest, and walked away from me. I was about to follow when a voice stopped me.

"Don't get too discouraged," Lighthand said from the doorway. He had his optics locked on Skywarp and Silver.

"I'm not discouraged, just…really confused."

"He's had abandonment issues." Lighthand came next to me again and gave my shoulder a pat.

"Yeah, I know," I mumbled.

"I know this might sound strange, but try not to worry about it too much."

"Easy for you to say."

Lighthand kept smiling. "He's had a tough time and he's still quite fragile. Just have patience. It should make you feel good that he's come a long way all ready."

Lighthand and I stood together watching Skywarp. Neither of us could hear what he was saying, but it looked like it was going well. Silver wasn't fussing or fighting. Whatever was being said, he was listening and nodding on occasion. When Skywarp was done he came over to us and to my surprise, Silver let himself be handed to Lighthand with no complaints. He still looked sad though.

Feeling extremely guilty I reached out to Silver but Skywarp quickly took my hand in his, preventing my action. "He'll be okay, TC."

With much restraint I let Skywarp pull me away. We took to the sky without looking back. The next few hours were more stressful then I anticipated. I was depressed and worried about how much I must have hurt Silver's feelings. Skywarp spent much of our 'alone' time trying to assure me that there was nothing to worry about. Needless to say it wasn't all that enjoyable.

When our 'alone' time was at an end we flew at a forced leisurely pace back to Lighthand's. Silver must have been listening anxiously for our approach. We had barely landed when he came bursting through the door, and in mere moments he had latched himself back onto my leg. It was like he hadn't seen us in years. Lighthand gave us a recap of the last few hours. He told us Silver had quietly curled up on a couch the whole time, and that he didn't want to play. That of course only added to my depression. He'd have to be left with Lighthand a few more times before he became fully comfortable with the situation.

* * *

Skywarp and I have far from perfect behavior with each other. Sometimes we argue and outright yell at each other. Most our issues don't last long thankfully, but they lasted long enough for Silver to be, well, Silver. I can't even recall the argument at the moment, but Silver took our raised voices personally. He assumed somehow that we were yelling because of something he did. I had to take a break from my fight with Skywarp to pull Silver aside and try as I might to let him know that neither of us was yelling because of him.

"Why you yell at Sky' then?" Silver asked.

"Uh, well…we're mad at each other," I said even though it was obvious. "But it doesn't mean that we don't like each other, so don't worry."

Silver trudged reluctantly over to his craft-scrap, sat down and picked up a few pieces. "Not need to yell," he said mostly to himself.

I sighed and thought back to Silver's reaction to my yelling about the paintball gun. "I know, I know." I wanted to say more to him, but my current heated issues needed to be taken care of first. I motioned for Skywarp to follow me into another room so we could wrap things up without upsetting Silver anymore.

It was no more than ten minutes or so when both of us cooled off to re-emerge. I automatically headed over to the craft-scrap to have an apologetic talk with Silver, but he wasn't in sight. Skywarp and I made a quick sweep of the room, looking in all the usual hiding places, but he wasn't present.

I clenched my fists. "Can I panic now?" I asked, turning to Skywarp.

"No," Skywarp answered calmly. "He's probably not too far."

"You're right, you're right, he's probably just outside. I'm going to go look for him." Without waiting for a response I headed for the door. As I reached for the keypad, it chimed. Somebody was outside.

I pushed the button to open the door and I reflexively jumped back as a bundle of silver and blue was thrust into my face.

"Does_ this _belong to you?" a grating voice asked.

After a brief moment and putting two and two together, I realized that I was looking level at a sour-faced Silver, who was being held out at arms length by Starscream.

"Uh, yeah…." I took hold of Silver.

Silver was mumbling softly, quickly, "Not like, not like, not like..." The sour expression remained prominent.

I set Silver on his feet and he was on auto-pilot as he went back over to his craft-scrap and sat. Skywarp looked ready to burst into laughter as he looked at Starscream, then back to Silver. He was probably imagining what could have happened between the two of them.

Starscream crossed his arms and tapped his foot in an over-dramatic fashion to get my attention. "I think you need to invest in a leash."

"A leash?" I forced myself to keep a casual tone. "Why? What'd he do?"

"I was _excruciatingly_ busy with_ important_ work and he wouldn't stop following me around, practically under my heels, just _begging _to be stepped on!" He continued tapping his foot. "If _that_ wasn't enough, he decided to involve himself in a delicate project of mine. He ruined the whole thing!"

Knowing Starscream, and knowing his rant wasn't going to end soon I had to interrupt him as delicately, and politely as possible. I shut and locked the door in his face. I didn't care what exactly happened or how long he wanted to stand out there ranting and raving. At least it was muted.

I went over and sat at the craft-scrap. Silver looked up at me, with a worried expression. He probably thought he was going to get a lecture. Instead, I smiled and said "Not like is right." Silver's worry dissipated into smile.

Skywarp finally started to laugh. "I think we need to let him out _more_ often."

Later on, Silver told us he decided to leave because our yelling made him sad. He simply didn't want to listen to it and naturally, he wanted to get away from it. His curious nature did the rest.

* * *

Silver began to worry us that his energy reserves might not be functioning properly all the time. He'd fully recharge and a few hours later his energy would be incredibly low. When that would happen, he'd purposely find one of us to curl against and rest. I theorized that somehow, someway he might be absorbing some of our energy to help him out. He confirmed that theory to me when told us being close made him feel better faster. We took him to the med bay and had Hook examine him, he found nothing wrong and that Silver was in perfect working order. It made us feel better, but no less concerned.

Even normal recharge was still an intriguing event. Silver continued to emit light from deep within when he was resting peacefully, causing me to do the same. I made Skywarp aware of this little mystery a few nights after it initially began. He didn't know what to think and was curious why it didn't happen with him. That soon changed; within the week Silver's light began to shine when he rested against Skywarp. Something in his subconscious must have been triggering it. We did ask him about it and found out he really didn't know it was happening. Neither me nor Skywarp felt it was anything to worry about. As a matter of fact, it was quite the opposite. Skywarp and I came to the conclusion that this was his way of making a connection with his guardians. It was quite flattering.

* * *

There are countless more quirks of having a sparkling, which I shall not go in to, and unfortunately Skywarp discovered upon one in particular; Silver was very gullible. We all enjoyed watching the human television shows together, and Silver was convinced that much of what he saw was reality, unless it was something animated of course. Yes, it was explained to him that what he saw was all pretend; the humans were just playing make-believe. He wasn't fully convinced. This is where Skywarp did what Skywarp does best; cause trouble.

Skywarp had Silver curled next to him on the couch one evening. "You sure you want to watch this with me?" Skywarp asked with playful dare in his voice. "It's going to be really, really scary."

"Scary? How it scary?"

A wicked grin spread across Skywarp's face. "It's about somebody changing into a monster!"

"Um," Silver looked confused, "what a monster?"

"You don't know what a monster is? How can you _not_ know what a monster is?" Skywarp for once sounded honestly shocked.

"Not know." Silver shook his head.

"Were you ever told scary stories by anyone?"

"No."

"So there is nothing imaginary that scares you?"

Silver giggled. "You tell me not be scared of not real things."

"Ah, so we did!" Skywarp poked softly at Silver's side. "Then monsters won't be scary at all to you since they're not real."

"Not know. If I watch, then I find out if monsters are scary or not."

Skywarp flipped through the stations until he found what he wanted to watch. "Don't say I didn't warn you." His tone was still playful.

Together they watched an older, even by Earth standards, movie about a man who was cursed to turn into a grotesque creature called a werewolf. Skywarp got great joy from it; you would have thought it was a comedy from the way he was laughing. Silver on the other hand was quiet, wide-eyed, and clingy. It was obvious that monsters _did _scare him. I wasn't so sure about the message of transformation being bad, a good thing for Silver. It was after all, a huge part of who we were. It was stupid of me not to intervene, but I waited until the movie was over to try and undo the damage. I sat down with Silver while Skywarp excused himself to take care of a few duties.

"Silver," I said gently as I pulled him into my lap, "are you okay?"

He took my arm and pulled it around himself. "Not like monsters."

"No, I didn't think you would. Werewolves aren't real things, humans made them up." I wrapped my other arm around him, and he did his best to hide in my embrace. "They were made just to be scary."

"Why make up something scary?"

I had to think a moment. "Humans are weird creatures. Sometimes they think its fun to be scared."

"No fun." A quiet giggle escaped him. "Only fun if _you_ scare them."

"Yeah, I guess it is fun." I laughed. "So, will this make you scared of seeing us transform?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Silver blinked a few times, he looked confused. "Um, what you mean why not?"

"Why aren't we scary like a werewolf?"

"You not scary since it happen when you want."

"It does?" I grinned. "How do you know that when we transform, that it's not because of a full moon? You can't see it all the way down here or during the day even." I shouldn't have said it, but millions of years of Skywarp did rub off on me at unfortunate moments.

Silver was silent, still, and deep in confused thought. "Not know."

"Oh," I gave him a reassuring hug "you know I'm kidding."

"Hope so. It not nice to scare me."

"No, it's not. I'm sorry."

I changed the station to something whimsical and animated to get Silver's mind of werewolves. It worked and he perked up. At the time I had no clue that a make believe human monster would haunt him for some time.

* * *

**9-19-08 I have done a piece of art for this. Please check out my Bio/Profile for the link...**

It has been a while since I've done any updating. I blame Rock Band and brain fart….

This chapter is sort of a quick filler on a few small events. Sorry if it isn't as interesting as the rest. I hope to pick up again a in the next chapter.


End file.
